| Defense Minister Jeong Kyeong-doo, left, acting U.S. Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan, center, and Japanese Defense Minister Takeshi Iwaya hold a trilateral meeting in Singapore, Sunday, on the sidelines of this year's Shangri-La Dialogu hosted by the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) from May 31 to June 2. Courtesy of Ministry of National Defense |
By Jung Da-min
The South Korean and U.S. militaries have concluded that "projectiles" launched on May 4 by North Korea involved a short-range missile, the same type as the two missiles launched by the North on May 9.
"After a thorough review of what kind of weapons were recently tested by North Korea, the military authorities in Seoul and Washington agreed that these were short-range missiles," a high-ranking government official told The Korea Times, Sunday.
The administration has been showing reluctance to say the North tested missiles. While admitting admitting the launch on May 9 involved two short-range missiles, the government had kept repeating that the North had fired "multiple unidentified short-range projectiles" regarding the launch on May 4, adding South Korean and U.S. intelligence agencies had been conducting a "detailed analysis" to verify the exact "facts" of the tests.
The consensus from Seoul came the same day Defense Minister Jeong Kyeong-doo shared the assessment with his Washington and Tokyo counterparts at a trilateral meeting held on the sidelines of this year's Shangri-La Dialogue, an annual defense forum in Singapore hosted by the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) from May 31 to June 2.
The government official said Seoul and Washington shared the conclusion a week ago but added it did not mean that the analysis of the launch was complete, as they were still assessing the type and characteristics of the missiles — including whether they used ballistic technology and whether they were based on the Russian Iskander, as is widely believed by experts.
Acting U.S. Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan said last Wednesday that the missiles launched by the North were short-range missiles and a violation of the United Nations Security Council Resolutions (UNSCRs). The three allies at the trilateral meeting in Singapore, Sunday, called on North Korea to follow the UNSCRs, saying they called for concerted efforts by the international community to realize the verifiable and irreversible denuclearization of the North.