SEOUL, South Korea, Oct. 19 (BNA): North Korea on Tuesday fired at least one ballistic missile into the sea in what the South Korean military described as a weapon likely designed for submarine launches, marking one of the most significant demonstrations of North Korea’s military might. Since President Joe Biden took office.
The launch came hours after the United States reiterated its offer to resume diplomacy over North Korea’s nuclear weapons programme. She stressed how North Korea continues to expand its military capabilities amid a diplomatic hiatus.
The South’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said it monitored the North’s launch of a short-range ballistic missile that it assumed was a short-range ballistic missile from waters near the eastern port of Sinpo, and that the South Korean and US militaries were closely analyzing the launch, according to Associated Press (AP) reports.
The South Korean military said the launch took place at sea, but did not say whether it was launched from a sinking underwater ship or another launch pad above sea level.
But Japanese Defense Minister Nobuo Kiichi said that his country’s preliminary analysis indicates that North Korea fired two ballistic missiles. The Japanese Coast Guard issued a maritime safety warning for the ships but did not immediately know where the alleged missiles had landed.
The Sinpo shipyard is a major defense industry hub with North Korea focusing on submarine production. In recent years, North Korea has also used Sinpo to develop ballistic weapon systems designed to be launched from submarines.
North Korea last tested an SLBM ballistic missile in October 2019.
Analysts expected North Korea to resume testing of these weapons after it launched at least two new SLBMs during military parades in 2020 and 2021. There were also indications that North Korea was trying to build a larger submarine that would be able to carry and launch more than one missile at a time.
South Korean officials held a National Security Council meeting and expressed their “deep regret” for the missile launch, which came despite efforts to revive diplomacy. A strong South Korean response could anger North Korea, which accuses Seoul of hypocrisy for criticizing North Korea’s weapons tests while expanding its conventional military capabilities.
Japan’s Deputy Prime Minister Yoshihiko Isozaki said Tokyo had lodged a “strong protest” to North Korea through “the usual channels”, that is, its embassies in Beijing. There are no diplomatic relations between Japan and North Korea.
To end a months-long calm in September, North Korea ramped up its weapons tests while making conditional peace offers to Seoul, reviving a pattern of pressure on South Korea to try to get what it wants from the United States.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is “developing submarine-launched ballistic missiles because it wants a more viable nuclear deterrent capable of blackmailing its neighbors and the United States,” said Leif Eric Easley, professor of international studies at Ewha Womans University in Seoul. .
Easley added that North Korea “cannot seem politically left behind in a regional arms race” with its southern neighbor.
“It is possible that North Korea’s ballistic missiles are far from operationally deployable with a nuclear warhead,” he added.
North Korea has been pushing hard for years for a submarine-launched nuclear-armed missile capability, the next major piece in Kim Jong-un’s nuclear arsenal that includes a wide range of road-mobile and ICBMs with the potential to reach the US homeland. .
However, experts say it will take years, resources and technological improvements for the heavily sanctioned state to build a fleet of at least several submarines that can calmly travel the seas and reliably carry out strikes.
Within days, Biden’s special envoy to North Korea, Sung Kim, is scheduled to meet with US allies in Seoul about the prospects for reviving talks with North Korea.
Nuclear negotiations between Washington and Pyongyang have been bogged down for more than two years due to differences over the mutual firing of tough US-led sanctions against North Korea and North Korea’s denuclearization steps.
But while North Korea appears to be trying to use South Korea’s desire for inter-Korean engagement to extract concessions from Washington, analysts say Seoul has little room for maneuver because the Biden administration is intent on keeping sanctions in place until North Korea takes concrete steps toward denuclearization.
The United States continues to communicate with Pyongyang to resume dialogue. Our intention remains the same. “We have no hostile intent toward the DPRK, and we are open to meeting without preconditions,” Sung Kim told reporters on Monday, referring to North Korea’s official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
Last week, Kim Jong-un demonstrated powerful missiles designed to launch nuclear strikes on the US mainland during a military exhibition and vowed to build an “indomitable” army to counter what he called persistent US hostility. Earlier, Kim rejected US offers to resume talks without preconditions, describing them as a “cunning” attempt to hide its hostile policy toward the North.
The country has tested various weapons over the past month, including a new cruise missile that can carry nuclear warheads, a rail-launched ballistic system, an upgraded hypersonic missile, and a new anti-aircraft missile. The supersonic missile test on Sept. 28 came shortly before North Korean Ambassador Kim Song called on the Biden administration to permanently end joint military exercises with South Korea and deploy strategic military assets to the region in his address to the United Nations General Assembly. .
RAE