North Korea fires missiles as US-South Korea drill begins
In this Aug. 2 file photo, people at Seoul Station stand by a TV screen showing footage of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un during a news program. North Korea on Tuesday continued to ramp up its weapons demonstrations by firing two short-range ballistic missiles into the sea while lashing out at the United States and South Korea for continuing their joint military exercises that the North says could derail fragile nuclear diplomacy. AP-Yonhap
By Kim Yoo-chul
By Kim Yoo-chul
North Korea fired two “short-range ballistic missiles” into the sea from North Hwanghae Province early Tuesday morning, South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said, Tuesday.
The launches came a day after President Moon Jae-in issued a rather “nationalistic request” for closer economic cooperation with the North as his apparent leverage against Japan. Also, this year's joint military drill between the United States and South Korea had de facto begun, Monday, to verify the South Korean military's basic combat readiness for the transfer of wartime operational control.
“The South Korean military detected two projectiles 5:24 a.m. and 5:36 a.m., respectively, which were fired into the sea from North Hwanghae Province. They are believed to be short-range ballistic missiles,” the JCS said. The missiles flew some 450 kilometers east across the Korean Peninsula before splashing down into the East Sea, reaching an altitude of 37 kilometers and a maximum speed of Mach 6.9.
Tuesday morning's actions mark the fourth set of missile launches by North Korea in just 13 days. Pyongyang had earlier fired missiles on July 25, 31 and Aug. 2, according to the JCS.
Cheong Wa Dae spokesperson Ko Min-jung said the presidential office is in discussions with relevant ministries to analyze the specifics of the missiles.
Regarding the latest firing, the North's foreign ministry official said the joint military exercise between South Korea and the United States were “violations of diplomatic agreement” and added Pyongyang will seek a new road if the two allies continue with “hostile military moves.”
“Despite our previous repeated warnings, Seoul and Washington have started the joint military exercise targeting the Democratic People's Republic of Korea,” the official was quoted as saying carried by its official Korea Central News Agency.
Since the historic June encounter between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, the U.S. president has been playing down the significance of repeated provocations by the North claiming Pyongyang “didn't break any agreement” that he had with the North Korean leader.
The US Department of Defense said this year's “scaled-down” joint military drill will “continue to monitor the situation and are consulting closely with our South Korean and Japanese allies.”
But a senior presidential aide said any “substantial progress” has yet to be made in talks aimed at ending the North's nuclear program. “We haven't seen any substantial progress in negotiations to resolve the North Korean nuclear conflict issue. The government will use all diplomatic channels available to explore methods for co-prosperity between the Koreas based on peace,” Kim Hyun-chong, a presidential national security adviser, told the steering committee at the National Assembly, Tuesday afternoon.
Pyongyang has “continued to enhance its nuclear and missile programs” and used cyberattacks to take in $2 billion to fund the development, a United Nations report said on Monday.