North Korea fired a long-range ballistic missile into the waters off its east coast toward Japan on Wednesday morning, South Korean and Japanese military authorities said. The launch, the 12th so far this year, comes two days after Pyongyang accused Washington of violating its airspace with suspected spy planes and condemned its plans to station submarine nuclear missiles near the Korean peninsula. It also coincides with two high-level meetings unpopular in the upper echelons of the North Korean regime: on the one hand, the NATO summit celebrations in Vilnius (Lithuania), attended by South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and on the other hand, a trilateral meeting of the military chiefs of the United States, South Korea and Japan in Hawaii (USA).
The South Korean chiefs of staff reported that the missile was launched at 09:59 (02:59 Spanish Peninsula Time) and traveled a 1,000-kilometer trajectory before falling into the sea about 250 kilometers west of the Japanese island of Okushiri, located in northern Hokkaido Prefecture . The missile, which reached an altitude of 6,000 kilometers, hovered for 74 minutes, the longest flight time for a North Korean missile to date.
South Korea’s president chaired an emergency National Security Council meeting via video conference from Vilnius, where he warned North Korea that “illegal acts will come at a heavy price,” reports Yonhap news agency. South Korea’s highest national security authority emphasized that the launch shows “how important it is that like-minded nations show solidarity”. Faced with this situation, Yoon ordered to step up cooperation with the United States and Japan and strengthen the “enhanced deterrence” of the Nuclear Advisory Group established jointly with Washington in April to discuss nuclear and strategic planning and that of Pyongyang emanating threat to the non-proliferation regime. South Korea’s presidential office has announced that the group is scheduled to meet on July 18 in Seoul.
North Korea’s first launch of long-range ballistic missiles in three months coincides with increased cooperation between its southern neighbor and NATO. On Tuesday, South Korea pledged to increase military intelligence sharing with the Atlantic Alliance and increase cooperation in areas such as non-proliferation and cybersecurity. Speaking to the transatlantic organization’s secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg, Yoon stressed that the international community must respond decisively to Pyongyang’s “nuclear and illegal missile provocations,” to which he replied that the situation “affects all NATO allies” and that it “highlights.” “How important it is for everyone who believes in a rules-based order to stick together,” says the reading offered by Seoul.
The shot is also being seen as a possible response to the tripartite meeting between the top military commanders of South Korea, Japan and the United States, which ended shortly before launch, according to a source quoted by Portal. The meeting, held in Hawaii, reportedly underscored the three nations’ determination to work together in the face of the military threat posed by Pyongyang. It is the first appointment of this kind since March 2022.
The North Korean regime’s rhetoric against Washington became even more provocative earlier in the week after the Defense Department denounced on Monday that the US plans to deploy a strategic nuclear submarine to the Korean Peninsula in the near future; an act which, according to the aforementioned ministry, “could unleash the worst crisis of any nuclear conflict”. The United States had not sent such weapons to South Korea since 1981, and committed to doing so following a joint statement by Presidents Yoon Suk-yeol and Joe Biden last April.
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Also on Monday, Kim Yo-jong, the sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, accused the US Air Force of invading her country’s Exclusive Economic Zone at least eight times. In a statement released by state news agency KCNA, Kim threatened that American “spy planes” could face a “very dangerous” and “shocking” flight if they continued their “illegal operations.” The also a member of North Korea’s largest political governing body warned that Pyongyang’s pulse would not tremble when it came to taking “clear and decisive action”.
Despite multiple United Nations Security Council sanctions against North Korea banning any kind of nuclear and missile tests, the country conducted 12 launches in 2023. In April it tested the first solid-fuel ICBM in its history; In late May it tried but failed to put into orbit its first military reconnaissance satellite, launched with a new type of missile, and last month it fired two short-range ballistic missiles in protest at a series of missiles from live ammunition military exercises between South Korea and the United States.
International analysts believe that some North Korean weapons have sufficient capability to hit targets in the United States and that the country may have developed nuclear warheads for its missiles. According to some experts quoted by South Korean media, this Wednesday’s launch could aim to promote internal unity on the eve of a possible July 27 military parade to mark the 70th anniversary of the signing of the Armistice that ended on the Korean War (1950–1953 ) and is celebrated in North Korea as Victory Day.
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