Seoul announced a new launch of a North Korean missile | News from Germany about events in the world | DW

According to Seoul, a few days after the presidential election in South Korea, the DPRK continued a series of threats and again launched a ballistic missile. The launch was made to the east in the direction of the sea, the command of the South Korean army reported on Saturday, March 5. In turn, the government in Seoul said that the leadership of North Korea by conducting missile tests threatens peace on the Korean Peninsula.

This is already, presumably, the ninth missile test of Pyongyang since the beginning of the year. The previous ballistic missile test was conducted on the night of February 27th. In January, North Korean authorities announced the launch of two hypersonic missiles, four short-range missiles, a cruise missile, and a medium-range ballistic missile.

North Korea is under US and UN sanctions due to its missile and nuclear program and is almost completely isolated on the world stage. Chairman of the State Council of the DPRK Kim Jong-un earlier promised at a meeting of the ruling party that the country will continue to strengthen its military potential.

See also:

• Rocket and nuclear tests of the DPRK: a project of three generations of Kims

  Rockets and bombs from North Korea

  Rocket launches in North Korea have become noticeably more frequent in recent years. Pyongyang is testing ballistic missiles in defiance of UN resolutions and gradually tightening sanctions. Experts do not even rule out the start of hostilities on the Korean Peninsula.

• 

  Rocket and nuclear tests of the DPRK: a project of three generations of Kims

  Beginning – during the late Kim Il Sung

  Although the number of missile tests has grown in the past four years, the first of them were carried out as early as 1984 under then-North Korean leader Kim Il Sung. According to the Nuclear Threat Initiative, over the past 10 years of his rule, the DPRK conducted 15 tests, and there were no launches from 1986 to 1989 inclusive.

• 

  Rocket and nuclear tests of the DPRK: a project of three generations of Kims

  Kim Jong Il: the beginning of nuclear tests

  Kim Jong Il, the son of Kim Il Sung, who led the country in July 1994, also did not stand aside. During the 17 years of his reign, 16 missile tests were carried out, although almost all of them took place in two years – 2006 (7 launches) and 2009 (8). This is less than in the first 8 months of 2017. However, it was during the reign of Kim Jong Il that Pyongyang’s first two tests of nuclear weapons took place – in 2006 and 2009.

• 

  Rocket and nuclear tests of the DPRK: a project of three generations of Kims

  Kim Jong-un: unprecedented activity

  Under the son and grandson of the former rulers, the activity of the DPRK in the missile sphere has reached an unprecedented level. For 6 years, Pyongyang has already carried out 84 launches of ballistic missiles. Not all of them were successful, in some cases the rockets exploded at the start or in flight.

• 

  Rocket and nuclear tests of the DPRK: a project of three generations of Kims

  towards Guam

  In early August 2017, there were reports that the North Korean army was developing a plan to launch four medium-range ballistic missiles in the direction of a US military base on the island of Guam in the Pacific Ocean. The reaction of US President Donald Trump was predictably harsh and threatening.

• 

  Rocket and nuclear tests of the DPRK: a project of three generations of Kims

  Over Japan

  On August 29, 2017, the DPRK carried out another test, and this time the missile flew over the territory of Japan – the island of Hokkaido. Kim Jong-un said that the launch of a rocket towards Japan is a preparation for a war in the Pacific.

• 

  Rocket and nuclear tests of the DPRK: a project of three generations of Kims

  Sixth nuclear

  A few days after the rocket was launched over Japan, North Korea announced that it had successfully tested a nuclear weapon, specifying that it was a hydrogen bomb. This was already the sixth underground nuclear explosion carried out by Pyongyang. Experts estimated the yield of the bomb at about 100 kilotons.

• 

  Rocket and nuclear tests of the DPRK: a project of three generations of Kims

  Meetings and condemnatory statements

  After almost every North Korean test of missile or nuclear weapons, security councils of various countries and the UN Security Council gather for emergency meetings. But they, like the condemning statements of world leaders, have not yet brought any effect.

  Author: Grigory Arosev