North Korea fires two more missiles on Thursday after the US and South Korea reacted to its earlier attacks. All this happened after the United States Of America decided to redeploy its carrier to the Sea of Japan. This attack is being counted as the Sixth round of launches by North Korea since September and the missile was fired from near Pyongyang towards the Sea Of Japan again.
How the world reacts?
The launches occurred a day following the Re deployment of the US carrier Ronald Reagan on the Sea of Japan to carry out the combined exercise, and only two days following Pyongyang’s firing of a short-range ballistic missile over Japanese islands following a five years gap, after 2017.
Minister Of defense Yasukazu Hamada has said that the missiles fell outside of Japan’s internal economic zone and traveled from 350 and 800 kilometers at a maximum height of 50 to 100 kilometers. He said there had been no evidence of harm to Japanese ships or planes. The Joint Chief of Staff (JCS) of South Korea as well as the Japanese government both reported on the launches on Thursday.
The Joint Chiefs of Staff of South Korea said that at 6:01 and 6:23 in the morning, two ballistic missiles were fired from near the Samsok neighborhood in Pyongyang. According to the JCS, the first flight covered about 350 km and reached a height of about 80 km while traveling at a velocity of about Mach 5, while the second flight covered about 800 km and reached a level of around 60 km with a velocity of about Mach 6.
Fumio Kishida, Japan’s Prime Minister said that this kind of action from North Korea is absolutely unavoidable and expressed his criticism calling it the sixth instance of missile fire since September. The world reacts the same way.
South Korean President, Yoon Suk Yeol, on the other hand, expressed his faith in the partnership Seoul has with Washington and Tokyo and also stated that it will take strict actions in partnership with the three nations.
The US, on the other hand, has strongly condemned this move of South Korea saying that its actions are strongly against the resolutions of the UN security council and are also absolutely menacing to the entire globe as it threatens the very establishment of world peace. The Spokesperson while calling North Korea for dialogue also confirmed the US relationship with Japan and South Korea by using the word, “ironclad”.
The US was charged by the North for interfering and encouraging tension in the Korean Peninsula. The United States accused China and Russia of supporting North Korean leader Kim Jong Un whilst also obstructing efforts to tighten restrictions on Pyongyang over nuclear and ballistic missile programs as the UN Security Council met on Wednesday to discuss the launch of an IRBM, hours before the most recent launches.
China and Russia blocked the United States’ draft Security Council resolution in May that sought to put stricter restrictions on North Korea in response to its ballistic missile launches this year. Since the initial sanctions were enacted in 2006, this was the first time a Draft Resolution intended to stop North Korea from developing nuclear weapons as well as missiles had been rejected.
When North Korea is being considered, the country often does not send a delegation to the council. However, in a statement, the foreign ministry of North Korea claimed that the launches were “the rightful counter-force actions of the Korean People’s Army against South Korea-US joint drills.”
A potential risk?
In the midst of lengthy nuclear negotiations with the US, North Korea has conducted an unusual amount of missile tests in the year and – 38, excluding cruise missiles. Analysts claim the nation intends to increase its military capabilities to increase its negotiating power with the United States in the future. They also warn that the nation may soon conduct its first-ever nuclear test after September 2017.
The architecture of several of North Korea’s latest short-range ballistic missiles allows them to maneuver and fly on something like a lower, depressed trajectory, making it more difficult to track and intercept them. Geng Shuang, China’s deputy ambassador to the UN, stated that the council should take a proactive approach “instead of relying simply on harsh language or pressure.”
