Alarm grows over hypersonic missile launches in North Korea

South Korea and Japan had already confirmed the launch of an “apparently ballistic” missile by North Korea to the Sea of ​​Japan. It is the second in just six days and in the middle of demands of several Western powers for the Asian country to end its nuclear weapons development program.

“Our armed forces detected a possible ballistic missile fired by North Korea on land into the East Sea “, as the Sea of ​​Japan is called in Korea, in the morning, the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff reported in a statement. Also the Japanese Prime Minister, Fumio Kishida, told reporters in Tokyo that North Korea launched “an object that could be a ballistic missile.” “It is extremely regrettable that North Korea continues to launch missiles,” Kishida added.

The announcements from South Korea and Japan came after six countries, including the United States, demanded that North Korea abandon its “destabilizing acts”, ahead of a UN Security Council meeting to discuss the hypersonic missile test that the communist nation claimed to have carried out six days ago. The United States condemned the new launch, which a State Department spokesman called a “threat to North Korea’s neighbors and the international community.”

North Korea missile from submarine

North Korea in recent weeks tested long-range cruise missiles, a train-launched weapon and what it called a hypersonic missile.

Photo: AP

Previously, thes The US Forces in Korea (USFK) had viewed the trial as proof “of the destabilizing consequences of the illicit weapons program.” from North Korea. The new projectile was launched from the mainland at 7.27 local time and traveled about 700 kilometers at about 60 kilometers of altitude and a speed of Mach 10 (3,430 meters per second)said the heads of the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff in a statement, the AFP news agency reported.

Analysts indicated that North Korea may have timed the launch to coincide with the UN meeting. “The launch has political and military motivations,” Shin Beom-chul, a researcher at the Korea Research Institute for National Strategy, told AFP. “North Korea continues to test to diversify its nuclear arsenal, but scheduled this launch on the day of the Security Council meeting to maximize its political impact, “he added.

Kim Jong-un

Kindness: Peru21

In the decade since Kim Jong-un came to power in North Korea, The country had a rapid advance in its military technology, for which it has received multiple international sanctions. Despite the serious economic difficulties suffered during the coronavirus pandemic, Kim insists on strengthening the war capacity of his country.

In 2021, CNorth Orea claimed to have successfully tested a new type of submarine-launched ballistic missile, a weapon dropped from a train and another hypersonic projectile, in addition to the one he claimed to have tested six days ago. South Korea, however, doubts that the North has a hypersonic projectile, and claims that last week’s test showed “limited” progress with respect to known North Korean ballistic missiles.

While, dialogue between the United States and North Korea remains stalled after talks collapse of Kim with then-President Donald Trump in 2019. Under the current US administration of Joe Biden, Washington expressed its willingness to meet with North Korean authorities, while insisting on its denuclearization. But nevertheless, North Korea dismisses the proposal and accuses Washington of pursuing “hostile” policies.