The South Korean military said North Korea launched three ballistic missiles early Wednesday morning, hours after Biden leaves Asia.
According to Seoul authorities, the missiles were fired in less than 1 hour from Pyongyang’s Sunan area.
It comes only a day after US President Joe Biden left the area after promising to strengthen deterrence measures against North Korea during his visit.
North Korea has performed a series of ballistic missile launches since the beginning of the year.
Japan confirmed at least two launches on Wednesday but warned there could have been more.
According to Japan’s Defence Minister Nobuo Kishi, the first missile went roughly 300 kilometres (186 miles) at a maximum height of around 550 kilometres. In comparison, the second flew about 750 kilometres at a maximum altitude of 50 kilometres.
Mr Kishi denounced the tests, labeling them “unacceptable” and a risk to “Japan’s peace, stability, and security,” as well as the international community’s.
According to the presidential office, South Korea’s National Security Council termed the missile test a “grave provocation” in a meeting held after the launch.
The launches happened only hours after US Vice President Joe Biden returned home from a five-day tour to South Korea and Japan on Tuesday evening.
According to US and South Korean sources, North Korea appears to be preparing for another nuclear test, potentially during Biden’s visit.
During their weekend visit to Seoul, Mr. Biden and his South Korean counterpart Yoon Suk-yeol agreed to conduct greater military drills and deploy additional US strategic assets if necessary to deter North Korea’s growing missile launches.
Mr. Biden has stated that the US is “prepared for anything North Korea does.”
These launches are not coincidental: they come only hours after President Biden’s trip to Asia ended and days after he agreed with South Korea’s president to strengthen their anti-North Korean defences.
Rumours has been circulating for weeks that North Korea was planning a massive launch when the president was in town. It had waited until he had departed, but only to be less offensive. The missiles were fired before Air Force One landed on US soil.
During the weekend summit, President Biden and President Yoon emphasised that they were prepared to jointly confront North Korea’s threat. This was their initial assessment. They reacted promptly, criticising the launches while also together launching missiles.
North Korea has stepped up its aggression in the last six months. What concerns them is what happens next. According to accumulating evidence, North Korea is prepared to test a nuclear bomb. This would be the country’s first atomic test in five years and a significant step forward.
North Korea missiles amidst Covid’s ’emergency.’
The new rockets came as North Korea battles a possible Covid epidemic among its 25 million mainly unvaccinated people.
Since late April, more than a million people have been affected by what Pyongyang refers to as a “fever,” with more than 68 individuals dying.
The Covid epidemic is a huge calamity, according to Kim Jong-un.
On the same day that Mr. Kim proclaimed an “emergency” over the Covid outbreak, North Korea test-fired ballistic missiles.
South Korea has stated that it has given humanitarian assistance to Pyongyang, but Pyongyang has yet to reply.
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