| People watch file footage on a TV news program reporting North Korea's latest missile launch, at Seoul Station, Sunday. North Korea test-fired eight ballistic missiles off to the East Sea, marking the 18th round of missile provocations this year alone. AP-Yonhap |
North Korea fires 8 ballistic missiles after South Korea-U.S. naval drill
By Nam Hyun-woo
North Korea fired eight short-range ballistic missiles (SRBMs) into the East Sea, Sunday, in an apparent reaction to a joint naval drill between South Korea and the U.S. carried out in the Philippine Sea from Thursday until Saturday.
| President Yoon Suk-yeol enters the presidential office to attend a National Security Council meeting after North Korea fired eight ballistic missiles into the East Sea, Sunday. Joint Press Corps |
According to South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS), the missiles were fired consecutively from 9:08 a.m. to 9:43 a.m. from four sites in the area of Sunan near the North's capital Pyongyang, South and North Pyongan Provinces and South Hamhung Province.
The JCS said the SRBMs flew a distance of 110 kilometers to 670 kilometers at altitudes ranging between 25 kilometers and 90 kilometers and at speeds of Mach 3 to 6. Although the JCS did not reveal more details of the missiles, sources said the launches are assumed to have involved the KN-23, KN-24 and KN-25.
Recently, the North has been concentrating on launching multiple missiles consecutively. On May 25, the regime fired one intercontinental ballistic missile and two SRBMs at the same time. Along with Sunday's launches, the North appears to be showing off its capability to avoid South Korean and U.S. missile defense systems.
Following the launch, President Yoon Suk-yeol convened a meeting of South Korea's National Security Council and concluded that the launches were “a serious challenge and test to the (South Korean) government's national security posture.”
During the meeting, Yoon noted that the North has “staged provocations approximately every nine days this year alone” and ordered the military to “strengthen the Seoul-Washington extended deterrence, including missile defense exercises.”
Extended deterrence refers to Washington's commitment to providing its nuclear capabilities to defend its allies.
| South Korean Navy's Maritime Task Flotilla commander, Rear Adm. An Sang-min, right, shakes hands with U.S. Navy Carrier Strike Group 5 commander, Rear Adm. Michael Donnelly, on the USS Ronald Reagan during a joint Carrier Strike Group Exercise in the Philippine Sea on June 2. Courtesy of Joint Chiefs of Staff |
Regional tensions mounting
Sunday's launch came a day after the JCS announced that South Korea and the U.S. had wrapped up a three-day Carrier Strike Group Exercise in the Philippine Sea, which involved the U.S. aircraft carrier, the USS Ronald Reagan.
It was their first joint naval drill involving a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier since November 2017 and came just 12 days after Yoon and his U.S. counterpart Joe Biden agreed on the extended deterrence needed to deter North Korea's escalating missile and nuclear threats.
Officials from Seoul and Washington are now assessing the possibility of the North conducting a nuclear test, which appears to be imminent.
During a trilateral meeting between the nuclear envoys from South Korea, the U.S. and Japan in Seoul, Friday, Sung Kim, Biden's special envoy for North Korea, said the U.S. assesses that the North is “preparing its Punggye-ri test site for what would be its seventh nuclear test” and Washington is “preparing for all contingencies.”
Seoul's representative, Kim Gunn, responded by stating that North Korea's nuclear programs will “only end up strengthening our deterrence” and this will “ultimately run counter to Pyongyang's own interests.”
Japan's Takehiro Funakoshi also called for stronger action at the United Nations, expressing regret over a recent veto by China and Russia of a draft resolution on sanctions against North Korea.
Funakoshi said that China and Russia were not joining efforts by South Korea, the U.S. and Japan to contain North Korea with stronger sanctions. Rather, they each launched naval drills to apparently counter the Seoul-Washington naval drill and the upcoming Rim of the Pacific Exercise (RIMPAC), which will start later this month.
According to the Russian news agency Tass, Russia's Pacific Fleet has started a week of naval drills which will last until June 10 and will involve more than 40 warships and 20 aircraft.
| The USS Ronald Reagan aircraft carrier and other warships from the South Korean and U.S. navies train in formation during Carrier Strike Group Exercise 2022 in the Philippine Sea, June 4. Courtesy of Joint Chiefs of Staff |