Seoul: North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles into its east sea early Wednesday in what appeared to be a statement of defiance as the United States deployed a nuclear-armed submarine to South Korea for the first time in decades.
South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said between 3.30 and 3.46 a.m. North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles from an area near the capital Pyongyang, which flew about 550 km before landing in waters east of the Korean peninsula . Those flight details were similar to the Japanese military’s assessment, which said the missiles fell outside Japan’s exclusive economic zone and there were no immediate reports of damage from ships or aircraft in the affected areas.
The flight distance of the North Korean missiles roughly matched the distance between Pyongyang and the South Korean port city of Busan, where the USS Kentucky arrived Tuesday afternoon in the first visit to South Korea by a US nuclear-armed submarine since the 1980s. Japanese Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada told reporters that the North Korean missiles followed low trajectories, had a maximum altitude of about 50 kilometers, and likely exhibited “erratic maneuvers” in flight.
Japan has previously used similar language to describe the flight characteristics of a North Korean weapon modeled on Russia’s Iskander missile, which travels at a lower altitude and is designed to improve its chances of evading missile defense. Designed to maneuver in flight.
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Wednesday’s launch marked the North’s first ballistic activity since July 12, when it tested a new solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missile that demonstrated its potential range to reach deep into the US mainland. That launch was overseen by the country’s authoritarian leader Kim Jong Un, who has vowed to further enhance his country’s nuclear warhead capabilities in the face of expanding US-South Korean military activities, which he says will worsen the security environment on the Korean peninsula. was held responsible for.
Tensions have risen in the region in recent months as the pace of both North Korean weapons tests and US-South Korean joint military exercises has increased in a tit-for-tat cycle.
The launches came as the US-led United Nations Command is trying to secure the release of an American soldier who fled to North Korea from the South Korean side of a border village on Tuesday afternoon.
Private Second Class Travis King, then in his late 20s, had recently been released from a South Korean prison where he had been held on assault charges. US officials say that instead of boarding a plane to be taken back to Fort Bliss, Texas, he walked and joined a tour of the Korean border village of Panmunjom, where he fled across the border.
Since the beginning of 2022, North Korea has conducted nearly 100 missile tests, attempting to demonstrate a dual capability to launch nuclear strikes on both South Korea and the continental United States. In response the allies have increased their joint military training and agreed to increase the deployment of US strategic assets such as long-range bombers, aircraft carriers and submarines in the region.
Periodic visits by US nuclear ballistic missile-capable submarines to South Korea was one of several agreements reached by the presidents of the two countries in April in response to North Korea’s growing nuclear threat. They also agreed to establish a bilateral Nuclear Consultative Group and expand military exercises.