North Korea fired at least one ballistic missile on Wednesday, November 9, the South Korean army said. The projectile was fired toward the Sea of Japan, according to South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff. The Japanese government also confirmed the launch, writing on Twitter that Pyongyang had “launched a suspected ballistic missile.” The fire was characterized by “a flight distance of approximately 180 miles, an altitude of approximately 19 miles, and a velocity of approximately Mach 6 [environ 7 400 km/h] ‘ according to the South Korean army.
Also read: Article reserved for our subscribers Risk of escalation on the Korean Peninsula
The start came as the United States counted the votes for the midterm elections for the House of Representatives and the Senate. Seoul’s intelligence services had warned that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un could conduct a nuclear test on this occasion.
Earlier this month, North Korea conducted a series of launches, including one of an ICBM that Seoul said appeared to have failed. Pyongyang also fired a ballistic missile that crossed the line that serves as the de facto maritime border between the two countries and landed near South Korea’s territorial waters. South Korean President Yoon Seok-youl called the shooting a “de facto territorial invasion”.
“Watchful Storm”
Those two launches were part of a streak that began on November 2 in which Pyongyang fired 23 missiles, more than all of 2017, when Kim Jong-un and former US President Donald Trump were heavily vilified by state media and Twitter accounts interposed became.
The launch wave came as hundreds of US and South Korean military aircraft, including B-1B heavy bombers, took part in the largest joint air maneuvers ever conducted by Seoul and Washington, dubbed the “Watchful Storm.” Pyongyang called them “aggressive and provocative”.
In response to these exercises, Pyongyang has increased its missile attacks. This type of maneuver has long provoked strong reactions from North Korea, which interprets them as rehearsals for an invasion of its territory.
Also Read: South Korea Denounces Unprecedented ‘Territorial Invasion’ After Numerous Missile Launches by North Korea
Possible nuclear test
The latest shot comes two days before the opening of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) leaders’ summit in Cambodia’s capital Pnomh Penh on Friday, ushering in a busy diplomatic sequence in the region, the theater of rising tensions between Washington and China Beijing.
The missile crisis has drawn a dividing line between Americans and Chinese, with the former accusing the latter of covering up “repeated violations” by the North Koreans. Seoul and Washington now expect Kim Jong-un’s regime to soon conduct a nuclear test that would be its first since 2017.
US President Joe Biden, his South Korean counterpart Yoon and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida are set to meet on the sidelines of ASEAN or G20 summits, the Japanese press reported.