SEOUL, South Korea – North Korea fired a suspected intermediate-range ballistic missile into the sea on Sunday, South Korea’s military said, two months after North Korea claimed to have tested an engine for a new, hard-to-detect missile capable of striking the distant US. targets in the region.
The launch is the first in the North this year. Experts say North Korea could increase its provocative missile tests as a way to influence the outcome of South Korea’s parliamentary election in April and the US presidential election in November.
South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement that it detected the launch of an intermediate-range ballistic missile from the North’s capital region on Sunday evening. It said the missile flew about 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) before landing in the waters between the Korean Peninsula and Japan.
The Joint Chiefs of Staff called the launch a provocation that posed a serious threat to peace on the Korean Peninsula. It said the South Korean military would maintain its readiness to respond to any provocation by North Korea.
South Korea’s assessment suggests North Korea could launch a new intermediate-range ballistic missile, whose solid-fuel engine the North is said to have tested in mid-November.
North Korea expects to increase its ballistic missile tests in the coming months. AP
The missile was designed primarily to hit the US military base in the US Pacific territory of Guam, which is about 3,400 kilometers (2,110 miles) from Pyongyang, the North’s capital. With a range adjustment, the missile could also be used to strike a closer target — a US military installation on the Japanese island of Okinawa, according to Chang Young-keun, a missile expert at the Korea Research Institute for National Strategy in Seoul.
Built-in solid propellants make missile launches more difficult to detect than liquid-fuel missiles, which must be ignited before launch and cannot last long. North Korea has a growing arsenal of solid-fuel short-range missiles aimed at South Korea, but the existing Hwasong-12 intermediate-range missile is powered by a liquid-fuel engine.
Japan’s Defense Ministry said its analysis showed the missile traveled at least 500 kilometers (300 miles) at a maximum altitude of 50 kilometers (30 miles), data suggesting North Korea may have fired a short-range missile rather than an intermediate-range missile.
Japan and South Korea said they exchanged close information about the launch with the United States, but they did not immediately explain the discrepancies in the data.
The missile was reportedly intended to hit Guam. AP
In a three-way call last Sunday, senior diplomats from South Korea, the US and Japan condemned North Korea’s launch and insisted that North Korea’s provocations would lead to the three countries strengthening their security cooperation, according to South Korea’s Foreign Ministry.
The last time North Korea conducted a missile launch was on December 18, when it tested the Hwasong-18 solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missile, the North’s most advanced weapon. The Hwasong-18 is the country’s only known solid-fuel ICBM and it is designed to strike the US mainland
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On January 5, North Korea fired a barrage of artillery fire near the disputed western sea border with South Korea, prompting South Korea to conduct similar firing exercises in the same area. The site is where the navies of the two Koreas have fought three bloody naval battles since 1999, and an attack blamed on North Korea killed 50 South Koreans in 2010.
In recent days, North Korea has also stepped up its belligerent and inflammatory rhetoric against its enemies ahead of an election year in South Korea and the US. Last week, leader Kim Jong Un called South Korea “our main enemy” and threatened to destroy it if provoked.
Experts say Kim may want to see South Korea’s liberals win the election as a blow to conservative President Yoon Suk Yeol, who has taken a hard line on the North. They say Kim also wants former US President Donald Trump re-elected because he may believe he can win US concessions if Trump returns to the White House.
Kim has been working hard to expand his nuclear and missile arsenal since his diplomatic spat with Trump broke off in 2019. In recent months, North Korea has also expanded its military and other cooperation with Russia.
The US government says it has evidence that missiles supplied by North Korea to Russia have been used in the war in Ukraine. In a joint statement last week, the US, South Korea and their partners said the missile transfer supported Russia’s war of aggression and provided North Korea with valuable technical and military insights.
North Korea and Russia announced Sunday that North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui will visit Russia from Monday to Wednesday at the invitation of his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov.
“Pyongyang’s show of force should be a concern beyond Seoul, because its military cooperation with Moscow adds to violence in Ukraine, and because it may be more willing to challenge the US and its allies while global attention is focused on the Middle East,” said Leif-Eric Easley, a professor at Ewha University in Seoul.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
