North Korea has carried out its first major weapons test since early July. On Thursday, September 12, Pyongyang fired multiple missiles “short-range ballistic missiles” (…) towards the East Sea [appellation coréenne de la mer du Japon] »South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said. They crashed after traveling about 360 kilometers, the same source said, adding that “Immediately detected, tracked and monitored” these shots and shared information with its allies Tokyo and Washington.
“We strongly condemn North Korea’s missile launch, which constitutes a clear provocation that seriously threatens peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula.”the staff added.
Japan’s Defense Ministry also confirmed the launches and outgoing Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said Tokyo has “I have already sent a protest to North Korea”.
Pyongyang has frequently carried out missile launches in the past around September 9, the anniversary of the founding of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea in 1948. The country also conducted its fifth nuclear test on September 9, 2016.
Major nuclear test site damaged by flooding
Kim Jong-un’s regime has carried out dozens of launches this year that experts say may be linked to North Korea’s alleged supply of munitions and missiles to Moscow for its war in Ukraine. Westerners accuse Pyongyang of supplying weapons to Russia, a claim the nuclear-armed country denies.
“Thursday’s missile launches may have been a test by the North” for export to Russia, a spokesman for South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff told reporters.
As experts have been saying in recent months, a new report from Conflict Armament Research, an organization that tracks the use of weapons in wars, published this week, states that “Missiles produced this year in North Korea are used in Ukraine”based on an analysis of weapons remains.
Pyongyang has not launched any missiles for more than two months, probably due to floods that hit the country in July and devastated some regions, said Park Won-gon, a professor at Ewha Womans University. According to the North Korea specialist website 38 North, the country’s main nuclear test site was damaged by the floods.
Even in August, when the United States and South Korea held large-scale joint military exercises that still draw ire from Pyongyang, the country refrained from firing missiles, Park said. Thursday’s launch “It may be a first step towards a return to the previous pattern”duck.
250 ballistic missile launchers deployed
During a speech given this week, on the occasion of the 76thmy anniversary of the country’s founding, leader Kim Jong-un said North Korea intends to strengthen its nuclear arsenal to “to confront any threatening act coming from its rival states with nuclear weapons”.
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North Korea regularly conducts weapons tests amid tensions with Seoul. Pyongyang has also launched thousands of garbage balloons toward the South since May, saying it was in retaliation for propaganda balloons launched toward the North by South Korean activists.
Relations between the two Koreas have deteriorated considerably in recent months. North Korea recently announced the deployment of 250 ballistic missile launchers on its southern border.
In response, South Korea has resumed propaganda broadcasts along the border and live-fire exercises on border islands and near the demilitarized zone dividing the Korean Peninsula.
