A missile launch every two days. That is the bleak average reached in just two weeks by North Korea, which does not give up its strategy of showing its growing military capacity as a way of challenging the movements of the United States and its allies in the area.
The last test was recorded this Thursday shortly after 6 in the morning (21 GMT on Wednesday). They were two short-range ballistic projectiles fired from the Samseok area, in the North Korean capital, into the waters of the Sea of Japan (East Sea for the two Koreas), where they fell harmlessly.
Seoul and Tokyo say the former flew at a maximum altitude of about 80 kilometers and a range of 350 kilometers, while the latter had an estimated altitude of 50 kilometers and covered 800 kilometers on an "irregular" trajectory. This term has previously been used to describe the flight characteristics of a North Korean weapon modeled on the Russian Iskander missile, which travels at low altitudes and is designed to be maneuverable in flight for a better chance of evading missile defenses.
“This is the sixth time (they have fired) in a short period of time. This cannot be tolerated,” Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida complained.
A couple of days ago, the inhabitants of Hokkaido and Aomori, north of the Japanese archipelago, woke up startled by the noise of the alarms activated by the passage over their skies of a North Korean intermediate-range missile. “North Korea appears to have launched a missile. Please seek shelter in buildings or underground," the emergency message said. It was the first North Korean projectile to fly over Japanese territory and trigger this alarm since 2017, when the North Korean regime tested two intercontinental missiles in the midst of the dangerous spiral of tension with the United States.
Tokyo responded by sending eight military planes to conduct a mock dogfight alongside four other US fighters. Seoul made a similar decision, with four of its F-15 fighters simulating a precision bombing run.
In addition, US and South Korean troops carried out a surface-to-surface ballistic missile test in the coastal city of Gangneung. However, one of the South Korean projectiles missed and crashed into the ground of the base, leading locals to believe that it was an attack by Pyongyang.
Both countries also announced the return to waters off the Korean peninsula of the US nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan, which last week had already participated in a series of joint exercises with troops from South Korea and Japan.
In a terse statement released Thursday, the North Korean Foreign Ministry condemned the ship's return to the region. "We note how the United States poses a serious threat to the stability of the Korean peninsula and its surroundings by redeploying its aircraft carrier and strike group" in the region, the text explained.
The note also acknowledges that the launch of the intermediate-range missile last Tuesday was a response to the maneuvers of the Ronald Reagan in the area, and criticized that “USA. and some of its satellites” are now seeking international sanctions for their “fair response measures” to the “escalation of tension” that the maneuvers of the aircraft carrier entail.
After the penultimate North Korean test, Washington convened an extraordinary meeting of the UN Security Council to address what they consider a "clear violation" of the resolutions issued by this body. However, as expected, the meeting ended on Wednesday without reaching any consensus on what steps to take or adopt new sanctions given the opposition of two of its permanent members, Russia and China.
"It was the irresponsibility of the US-led exercise, coupled with growing alliances with partners in the Asia-Pacific region, that prompted North Korea to act," said Anna Evstigneeva, Russia's deputy representative. at the UN. The Chinese envoy, Geng Shuang, spoke in the same direction, urging Washington to adopt a more conciliatory approach.
Talks on North Korea's denuclearization have been stalled since the rapprochement between then-President Donald Trump and dictator Kim Jong Un failed in 2018. Since Joe Biden arrived at the White House, Pyongyang has turned a deaf ear to the US dialogue proposals, which it demands as a precondition that it end its "hostile policies".
North Korea, which has been completely isolated from the outside since the pandemic began, approved an ambitious weapons modernization plan in 2021. So far this year, the country has vigorously returned to the path of military threats and ballistic missile tests. Last month, its authorities ratified that they do not intend to abandon their nuclear weapons and enshrined in law their right to carry out preventive attacks if their government or atomic arsenal is threatened from abroad.
The latest satellite images indicate that the country has also prepared to carry out its seventh nuclear test, which would be the first in five years. For some analysts, Kim's ultimate goal is to finally get the US to recognize North Korea as a legitimate nuclear state and increase his power in negotiating the end of sanctions.
