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| Citizens watch a television news program on North Korea's missile launch, Thursday morning at Suseo Station in Seoul. The North launched two short-range missiles which were assumed to be ballistic missiles at around 7 a.m. Yonhap |
By Nam Hyun-woo
North Korea is ratcheting up tension to test U.S. President Joe Biden's policy toward Pyongyang, firing two more projectiles assumed to be ballistic missiles into the East Sea, Thursday, just four days after the regime launched cruise missiles.
Diplomatic observers say the totalitarian state may opt for a more serious provocation such as an intercontinental ballistic missile or even a nuclear test unless the United States ditches its hostile policies. The new U.S. government is in the final stages of deciding on its new North Korea policy and plans to host national security advisers of South Korea and Japan next week to discuss it.
According to the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS), the two short-range missiles were fired from South Hamgyong Province in North Korea at 7:06 a.m. and 7:25 a.m., respectively. The missiles flew about 450 kilometers into the East Sea on an apogee of 60 kilometers.
Following the launch, the South Korean government held a National Security Council (NSC) meeting and expressed "deep concerns" on the launch which came amid the U.S.' North Korea policy review, as well as pledging to strengthen consultations with related countries in analyzing the backdrop and the intentions of the launch.
"This activity highlights the threat that North Korea's illicit weapons program poses to its neighbors and the international community," said Capt. Mike Kafka, the spokesman of the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command.
The NSC said it will analyze the specifications of the projectiles through cooperation between Korean and U.S. defense and intelligence offices, and the JCS will later explain the details of the missiles.
Though South Korean authorities did not specify the type of projectiles, a JCS official said they see a high possibility they were ballistic missiles. Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga has already said the North Korean weapons were ballistic missiles and the U.S. also believes they are short-range ballistic missiles.
If the projectiles are ballistic missiles, this is the first case of the North firing projectiles of that type since March 2020. North Korea's development and testing of ballistic missile technologies are banned under United Nations Security Council resolutions.
Reportedly, Seoul's National Intelligence Service (NIS) reported to lawmakers that the spy agency is assuming the missile launches could be timed to precede Biden's scheduled press conference on Thursday (local time). Yonhap News Agency said that lawmakers were also told that the NIS also believes other reasons include the recent adoption of the United Nations resolution on North Korea's human rights and the extradition of a North Korean businessman.
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| This combined photo revealed by North Korea's state-run Rodong Sinmun on Nov. 29, 2017, shows the test-firing of North Korea's Hwasong-15 intercontinental ballistic missile. Yonhap |
The launch came just four days after Pyongyang fired two cruise missiles into the West Sea. The cruise missile launch came to public knowledge after reports on Wednesday, as both Seoul and Washington did not make announcements even after they observed the launches.
The U.S. downplayed the cruise missile launches as "normal testing," with Biden saying "nothing much has changed."
Experts said North Korea's latest move is a reaction to Biden's comment, as well as testing how the new administration will react to military actions.
"This latest North Korean missile launch is most likely a reaction to U.S. President Joe Biden's downplaying and seeming to laugh off their weekend missile tests," said Harry Kazianis, senior director of Korean Studies at the Center for the National Interest.
"The Kim regime, just like during the Trump years, will react to even the slightest of what they feel are any sort of loss of face or disparaging comments coming out of Washington. … In the months ahead, we should expect the North Koreans to test bigger and more advanced missiles and a fiery response when the Biden North Korea policy is announced, which likely will be a pressure strategy to get the Kim regime to give up its nuclear weapons."
Kazianis added that if the situation develops in this way, the stage is set for another round of North Korean intercontinental ballistic missiles and even nuclear testing, and there will be another showdown between the U.S. and North Korea.
Hong Min, a senior researcher at the state-run Korea Institute for National Unification, said the North's recent movements appear to be the Kim regime testing the Biden administration's reactions.
Hong said the cruise missiles launched during the weekend are assumed to be Kumsong series, which are not the latest weapons. As both South Korea and the U.S. ignored its action, the North decided to go for short-range missiles, and then is expected to move on to other weapons, depending on how the situation unfolds.
"North Korea has a pattern of testing its missiles in springtime to showcase its military presence to the world. This was coupled by the regime's necessity to find out how the Biden administration will react to this type of actions," Hong said. "If the response is not what the North was desiring, the country may opt to test higher-grade or strategic weapons."
