2023-07-12 20:25:00
North Korea has fired a long-range ballistic missile, the South Korean military said on Wednesday, just days after Pyongyang threatened to shoot down any US spy plane that violates its airspace.
Relations between the two Koreas are in one of the worst moments, without diplomatic contacts between the countries and with the increase of weapons tests in the North, where the dictator Kim Jong Un determined the development of the nuclear arsenal.
United States and South Korea intensified joint military exercises in the region and promised the “end” of the North Korean regime if it uses nuclear weapons against its allies.
Seoul’s military command detected the launch of a long-range ballistic missile at 10:00 am (10:00 pm in Brasilia, Tuesday) from the Pyongyang region.
“The ballistic missile was fired in a vertical trajectory and traveled 1,000 kilometers before falling into the East Sea”, also known as the Sea of Japan, announced the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
North Korea has already used launches with a vertical trajectory at various times to prevent the projectile from entering the airspace of neighboring countries.
The launch “is a serious provocation that undermines peace and security on the Korean peninsula” and violates UN sanctions against Pyongyang, Seoul’s military command said.
A spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the organization was “very concerned” about the launch, which was also condemned by the United States and its allies, including France.
“This launch is a blatant violation of several UN Security Council resolutions, unnecessarily heightens tensions and risks destabilizing the security situation in the region,” said National Security Council spokesman Adam Hodge.
The last firing by the communist regime of one of its intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICMB) took place in April, supposedly the Hwasong-18 that uses solid fuel.
In February, the country launched a Hwasong-15, which traveled 989 km. Experts point out that the flight time of 70 minutes is also similar to that of other ICBMs.
“With what we have at the moment almost 90% sure it was an ICBM launch,” said AFP Choi Gi-il, professor of military studies at Sangji University.
The analyst pointed out that the firing may have been a new test by North Korea before a possible new attempt to put a reconnaissance satellite in orbit, after the May failure.
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The launch came just two days after North Korea accused the US government of violating its airspace with spy planes and criticized Washington’s plans to send a submarine with nuclear missiles to the Korean peninsula.
A spokesman for North Korea’s Ministry of National Defense said Washington had “intensified espionage activities beyond wartime levels”.
“There is no guarantee that an accident as shocking as the crash of a US Air Force strategic reconnaissance aircraft will not happen” in the East Korean Sea, the spokesman said in a statement carried by state news agency KCNA.
The blast coincides with South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol’s attendance at this week’s NATO summit in Lithuania as he seeks more cooperation with the military alliance in the face of growing threats from North Korea, according to the Seoul government. .
“Pyongyang often time its shows of force to disrupt what it perceives as diplomatic coordination against the country, in this case, the leaders of South Korea and Japan meeting during the NATO summit,” said Leif-Eric Easley, a professor at the University of Pyongyang. Ewha from Seoul.
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