North Korea appears to have torn down a huge arch in its capital symbolizing peace with South Korea, a week after leader Kim Jong Un rejected decades-long hopes for peaceful reunification with the war-torn south of the peninsula, according to satellite images analyzed by The Associated Press on Wednesday. .
South Korea’s military also said on Wednesday that North Korea fired several cruise missiles into waters off its west coast.
Kim last week described the Pyongyang monument as an “eyesore” and called for its removal while declaring that the North had abandoned its long-standing goal of peaceful unification with South Korea and ordered a rewrite of the North’s constitution to define the South as its most hostile foreign enemy.
Satellite images from PBC’s Planet Labs appear to show the destruction of Pyongyang’s Monument to the Three Charters for National Reunification, also known as the Reunification Gate.
An image Tuesday clearly shows the arch disappearing along the way.
This comes a week after Kim Jong Un rejected decades of hope for peaceful reunification with the South, according to reports. AP
Clouds and snow cover made it difficult to ascertain when North Korea tore down the monument, but it appears to have happened within the last few days.
NKNews, a website focused on North Korea, first reported the satellite images.
The gate is a 30-meter (about 100 feet) tall structure that overlooks the highway leading to the city of Kaesong near the border with South Korea.
The cruise missile launch was North Korea’s second launch event this year, following the country’s first test-fire of a solid-fuel intermediate-range ballistic missile on January 14, reflecting its efforts to advance its array of weapons targeting US military bases. in Japan and Guam.
People watch a television screen showing a news broadcast with file footage of North Korea’s missile test. AFP via Getty Images Satellite images from PBC’s Planet Labs appear to show the destruction of Pyongyang’s Monument to the Three Charters for National Reunification. AP
South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said on Wednesday that the US and South Korean militaries were analyzing the latest launch.
It did not immediately confirm the exact number of missiles fired or details of their specific flights.
“Our military has increased surveillance and vigilance and is coordinating closely with the United States as it monitors signs and further activity from North Korea,” the Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement.
Tensions on the Korean Peninsula have risen in recent months as Kim continues to accelerate his weapons development and issue provocative threats of nuclear conflict with the United States and its Asian allies.
This comes a week after Kim Jong Un rejected decades of hope for peaceful reunification with the South, according to reports. South Korea’s military AP also said on Wednesday that North Korea fired several cruise missiles into waters off its west coast. AFP via Getty Images
The United States, South Korea and Japan have expanded their joint military exercises in response to the North’s missile tests.
Kim characterized this exercise as an exercise for aggression.
In the latest tit-for-tat, North Korea said last week that it conducted a test of an underwater attack drone it said was nuclear-capable in response to joint naval exercises by the United States, South Korea and Japan, which it blamed on it. rivalry for tension in the region.
Cruise missiles are among a variety of weapons North Korea has tested in recent years as it tries to build a viable nuclear threat against the United States and its Asian allies.
The cruise missile launch was North Korea’s second known launch event this year, following a Jan. 14 test-fire. AP
Since 2021, the North has conducted several flight tests of what it describes as a long-range cruise missile, which it claims can cover a range of up to 2,000 kilometers (1,242 miles) and is nuclear-capable.
While North Korea’s cruise missile activity is not outright banned under UN sanctions, experts say the weapon has the potential to pose a serious threat to South Korea and Japan, as it is designed to fly like a small airplane and travel along a landscape that would make it more difficult to detected. by radar.
There are concerns that North Korea could fuel tensions in a US election year.
Experts say the North will aim to increase its bargaining power as it plans for eventual negotiations with whoever wins November’s presidential vote.
South Korean army soldiers walk past their armored vehicles during a military exercise in Paju, South Korea, near the border with North Korea, Wednesday, Jan. 24, 2024. AP
North Korea also has a long history of ratcheting up the pressure on rival South Korea when it doesn’t get what it wants from Washington.
During a speech in Pyongyang’s rubber-stamp parliament in which Kim announced that his country would no longer pursue peace with the South, he accused South Korea of acting like America’s “upper class” and repeated threats that he would use its nukes. to destroy the South if provoked.
Analysts say North Korea may aim to reduce South Korea’s voice in the regional nuclear standoff and eventually force direct dealings with Washington as it seeks to strengthen its nuclear status.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
