North Korea launched a ballistic missile into the sea on Sunday, its neighbors said, resuming weapons testing after a month-long hiatus and focusing on Russia's invasion of the United States and its allies Ukraine. Huh.
The North Korean launch was the eighth of its kind this year and the first since January 30. Some experts have said North Korea is trying to perfect its weapons technology and pressure the United States to make concessions such as sanctions relief amid long-stalled disarmament talks. , They say North Korea may also use the US engagement with the Ukraine conflict as an opportunity to ramp up testing activity to intensify its pressure campaign on Washington.
Japanese Defense Minister Nobuo Kishi said the North Korean missile flew about 300 kilometers (190 mi) at a maximum altitude of about 600 kilometers (370 mi) before landing on North Korea's east coast and outside Japan's exclusive economic zone. There was no damage to ships or aircraft, he said.
"If North Korea deliberately launched a missile while the international community is distracted by the Russian invasion of Ukraine, such an act is absolutely unforgivable," he told reporters. "Whatever the purpose, North Korea's repeated missile launches are absolutely unforgivable and we cannot ignore the considerable missile and nuclear progress."
South Korean officials said they also detected the launch from the North's capital region and expressed "deep concern and grave regret".
During an emergency National Security Council meeting, top South Korean officials said the timing of the launch, amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine, "is not at all desirable for peace and stability in the world and on the Korean Peninsula," the president said. Blue House said.
The US Indo-Pacific Command later on Sunday condemned the launch and called on North Korea to refrain from further destabilizing acts. A statement said that the U.S. to protect South Korea and Japan. The U.S.'s commitment "remains of iron," although Sunday's launch did not pose an immediate threat to American territory and its allies.
The launch came a day after North Korea gave its first response to the Ukraine war in the form of an article by a government analyst that expressed support for Russia and slammed the United States.
"The root cause of the Ukraine incident lies in the arbitrariness and arbitrariness of the United States, which has ignored Russia's legitimate calls for security guarantees and has sought global hegemony and military dominance while only sticking to its sanctions campaigns." ,” Ri Ji Song, a researcher at the North Korean state-run Institute on International Politics, said in a post published on the Foreign Ministry website.
Rea accused Washington of "arrogance" and "double standards" as it describes other countries' defense measures as provocations or injustice.
The former Soviet Union was North Korea's largest aid provider before its dissolution in the early 1990s. Russian President Vladimir Putin is pushing for the restoration of his country's ties with North Korea, which has been described as a way to regain its traditional domain of influence and secure more allies to better deal with the United States. seen as effort.
Leif-Eric Easley, a professor at Ewa University in Seoul, said the Biden administration needs to show it has a strategic focus on the Indo-Pacific by responding strongly to Pyongyang's provocation.
"North Korea will not take anyone's side in favor of remaining silent while the world deals with Russia's aggression against Ukraine," Isley said. "Pyongyang has an ambitious program of military modernization. The power and legitimacy of the Kim regime has always been linked to testing better missiles."
North Korea conducted seven rounds of missile tests last month, a record number of monthly launches since leader Kim Jong Un came to power in late 2011. North Korea halted testing activity after the start of the Winter Olympics in China, its last major ally and economic pipeline, earlier this month. Some experts had predicted that it would resume launch and possibly test larger weapons after the Games.
After the Olympics, Kim sent a message to Chinese President Xi Jinping to further strengthen bilateral ties "into the invincible", which he called "the unquestionable hostile policy and military threat of the US and its satellite forces".
According to North Korea's state media, Xi responded to Kim last week, saying China was ready to strengthen bilateral ties.
US-led diplomacy aimed at persuading North Korea to abandon its nuclear program in exchange for economic and political rewards in early 2019 offered broad sanctions relief in return for limited denuclearization steps during its second summit in Vietnam. Kim's call for ,
US officials have since repeatedly called for a resumption of talks without preconditions, but Pyongyang has said it will not be at the negotiating table until Washington ends its hostility to North Korea. Will return.