SEOUL, Feb. 27 (BNA) – North Korea fired a suspected ballistic missile into the sea on Sunday, South Korean and Japanese officials said, in an apparent resumption of its weapons tests following the conclusion of the Winter Olympics in China, North Korea’s last. A major ally and economic pipeline.
The launch was the eighth of its kind this year. Some experts said North Korea is trying to improve its weapons technology and pressure the United States to make concessions such as easing sanctions amid long-stalled disarmament talks.
South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement that it had detected what appeared to be a ballistic missile launch from the North Korean capital. It said the weapon was fired towards North Korea’s eastern waters, but did not give other details, including how high and how high it was. The statement said the South Korean military maintained its readiness for additional launches by North Korea.
Separately, South Korea’s presidential office said it plans to hold an emergency meeting of the National Security Council on Sunday to discuss the North’s launch.
Japan’s Defense Ministry said North Korea had launched a possible ballistic missile.
A marine safety alert from the Japan Coast Guard said a “ballistic missile potentially an object” was launched from North Korea and that it likely landed in the sea. Ships in the area have been warned to stay away from objects that may have fallen from the sky and report them to the authorities.
“We have raised the concern that Ukraine’s development could bypass Europe and affect the rest of the world, especially the Indo-Pacific region and East Asia,” Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi said on NHK TV. “We have not analyzed how the missile launches (this morning) are related or intended, but I have renewed my resolve to need to prepare resolutely for such a development.”
Leif Eric Easley, a professor at the University of Iowa in Seoul, said the Biden administration needs to show that it maintains a strategic focus on the Indo-Pacific, including by responding firmly to Pyongyang’s provocations.
“North Korea will not do anyone a favor to remain silent while the world deals with Russia’s aggression against Ukraine,” Easley said. Pyongyang has an ambitious timetable for military modernization. The strength and legitimacy of the Kim regime linked to missile testing is better than ever.”
Last month, North Korea conducted seven rounds of missile tests, a record number of monthly weapons tests since leader Kim Jong Un took power in late 2011. North Korea suspended testing activity after the Winter Olympics began earlier this month. Some experts have predicted that North Korea will resume testing and possibly launch larger weapons after the Olympics.
Kim sent a letter to Chinese President Xi Jinping after the Olympics calling for bilateral ties to be strengthened “in the indomitable relationship” in the face of what he called “the openly hostile policy and military threat of the United States and its proxy forces”.
Xi responded to Kim last week, saying that China is ready to boost bilateral ties, according to North Korean state media.
US-led diplomacy aimed at persuading North Korea to give up its nuclear program in exchange for economic and political rewards collapsed in early 2019 when President Donald Trump rejected Kim’s calls for large-scale sanctions relief in exchange for limited denuclearization steps during their second summit in Vietnam. .
Since then, US officials have repeatedly called for talks to resume without preconditions, but Pyongyang has said it will not return to the negotiating table unless Washington ends its hostility to North Korea.