SEUL, South Korea (AP) – North Korea launched an alleged intercontinental ballistic missile and two smaller weapons into the sea on Wednesday, hours after President Joe Biden completed a trip to Asia where he reaffirmed the US commitment to defend its allies in the face of the nuclear threat from the North.
If confirmed, it would be North Korea’s first ICBM launch in about two months amid stagnant nuclear diplomacy with the United States. Recent releases suggest the North is determined to continue its efforts to modernize its weapons arsenal despite its first outbreak of COVID-19, which has caused outside concerns over a humanitarian disaster.
“North Korea’s sustained provocations can only lead to a stronger and faster combined deterrence between South Korea and the US and can only deepen North Korea’s international isolation,” the South Korean government said in a statement. communicated after an emergency security meeting.
Japanese Defense Minister Nobuo Kishi called the launches “an act of provocation and absolutely inadmissible.” The U.S. command of the Indo-Pacific has previously said that missile launches highlight “the destabilizing impact of the (North Korean) illicit weapons program”, although they did not pose an immediate threat to in American territory and its allies.
According to the South Korean military, the three missiles took off from the northern capital region one after the other on Wednesday morning before landing in the waters between the Korean peninsula and Japan.
A military statement said the first missile was probably an ICBM and reached a maximum altitude of 540 kilometers (335 miles) while traveling 360 kilometers (223 miles). The statement said the second missile disappeared from South Korea’s radar at some point and the third missile flew 760 kilometers (472 miles) with a peak of 60 kilometers (37 miles).
The details of the alleged ICBM flight were similar to those of two previous North Korean launches, which the South Korean and US armies have said were intended to test components of the largest northern Hwasong-17 missile in launches. fly medium distances, not the whole. rank. North Korea said at the time that the two launches were intended to test cameras for a spy satellite.
Following these two previous launches, the South Korean military detected in March what it said was a North Korean Hwasong-17 missile that exploded shortly after takeoff. Later in March, North Korea claimed to have successfully launched the Hwasong-17 in its first full-range ICBM flight test that broke its 2018 self-imposed moratorium on long-range launches.
South Korea said North Korea could have fired a smaller ICBM, not a Hwasong-17. Whatever it was, the missile flew longer and higher than any other weapon the North has ever tested and had the potential range to reach the entire American continent, experts say.
Lee Choon Geun, an honorary researcher at the South Korean Institute of Science and Technology Policy, said the North may have tried the first stage of Hwasong-17 reinforcement and other technical elements to avoid another mistake in a full range test.
Chang Young-keun, a missile expert at Korea Aerospace University in South Korea, said the previous two North launches before the missile explosion were likely intended to test clustered engines. With that in mind, he said he doubted whether North Korea would re-launch an ICBM on Wednesday because the country would have no reason to do the same test over and over again and squander an ICBM that costs between 10,000 and 20 billion won. $ 16 million).
Chang said the details of the third missile’s flight are similar to those of the hypersonic missile that North Korea tested in January. Other analysts say it could also be the highly maneuverable, nuclear-capable KN-23 missile in the North.
There is less ambiguity about what North Korea was trying to show by mixing an ICBM and short-range missiles, Lee said. After Biden recently stressed the U.S. commitment to defending South Korea and Japan during their visits to those countries, North Korea responded by demonstrating its research on the ability to carry out nuclear attacks on both the mainland. US as its allies in Asia, he said.
“(The releases) were a political message. They’re saying they feel bad about Biden’s recent summit with South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, Chang said.
Biden and Yoon said after their meeting on Saturday that they would consider extended military exercises to deter North Korea’s nuclear threats.
Biden set aside questions about any possible provocation from North Korea during his trip, saying, “We are ready for anything North Korea does.” Biden later met with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in Tokyo and pledged to work closely to address security challenges, including North Korea’s nuclear and ballistic programs, and what they called “increasingly” behavior. coercive “from China to the region.
Following North American launches, South Korean and U.S. armies said they fired two surface-to-surface missiles to demonstrate their attack capabilities. Seoul officials said the allies had detected North Korea’s preparations for the launches in advance. The South Korean air force said on Tuesday it had conducted an “elephant walk” with 30 fully armed F-15K fighter jets parading down a runway in formation.
Wednesday’s launches were North Korea’s 17th round of missile launches this year. Experts have said North Korea wants to move forward with its drive to modernize its weapons arsenals and put more pressure on its rivals to achieve relief from sanctions and other concessions amid dormant nuclear diplomacy.
U.S., South Korean and Japanese officials have said North Korea could also soon conduct its first nuclear test in nearly five years. Kim Tae-hyo, Yoon’s deputy national security adviser, told reporters Wednesday that North Korea has been testing a trigger system for a nuclear explosive device and other technologies.
Earlier on Wednesday, North Korea’s most recent missile tests took place on May 12, hours after the country recognized an outbreak of COVID-19 and ended with a widely controversial claim to have been free of coronavirus for longer. of two years.
In recent days, the country has said there has been a “positive signal” in its anti-virus campaign. Since admitting the outbreak, North Korea has identified about 3 million cases of unidentified fever, but said only 68 people died, an extremely low death toll from COVID-19. On Wednesday, state media for the second day in a row did not report any additional deaths from fever.
Experts say North Korea has limited health resources and may be reporting little on mortality to prevent possible political harm to Kim.
So far, North Korea has ignored offers from South Korea and the U.S. to ship vaccines, drugs, and other support items. Much of North Korea’s 26 million people remain unvaccinated and the country’s previously free socialist public health system has been in ruins for decades.
“At a time when North Koreans are suffering the pain of the spread of COVID-19, North Korea is using its crucial resources to develop nuclear weapons and missiles instead of measures to fight the virus and improve the means of life, which is very unfortunate, “South said. Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin said.
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Associated Press writer Mari Yamaguchi contributed to this report from Tokyo.