The armies of South Korea and Japan have warned this Sunday of the launch of a ballistic missile by North Korea, although Seoul reported that it was a short-range projectile despite having warned in recent days about apparent preparations to test a intercontinental range projectile from the hermetic Asian country.
Initially, the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) limited itself to reporting in a brief statement that the regime had “launched an unidentified ballistic missile into the East Sea (the name given to the Sea of Japan in the two Koreas).” while the Japanese Ministry of Defense published another letter warning that “a possibly ballistic missile has been launched by North Korea.”
Both messages were issued from Tokyo and Seoul simultaneously at 10:41 p.m. local time (2:41 p.m. Spanish peninsular time) and another statement from the Japanese Ministry of Defense issued shortly after 11:00 p.m. local time (3:00 p.m. Spanish peninsular time) He indicated in turn that the projectile seemed to have already fallen into the water.
About 45 minutes later, the South Korean JCS confirmed that what was tested by Pyongyang is a “short-range missile that is believed to have been launched from the Pyongyang area into the East Sea around 10:38 p.m. (2:38 p.m.) today, December 17. December”.
For its part, the Japanese agency Kyodo also reported that the projectile “probably” is short-range, citing government sources close to the matter.
This North Korean launch, apparently the 26th reported this year, comes two days after South Korean Vice National Security Advisor Kim Tae-hyo said signs had been detected that Kim Jong-un’s regime could launch an intercontinental ballistic missile. (ICBM) in the coming days.
The last ICBM that Pyongyang tested was launched last July, when it fired a solid-fuel Hwasong-18 projectile from the outskirts of the North Korean capital.
However, when taking into account the flight durations in the trajectories commonly used by North Korea, the data shared by the Japanese Ministry of Defense does not seem to correspond in principle with that of an ICBM missile.
This latest North Korean launch also occurs after Pyongyang announced on November 23 that it is canceling the implementation of a military treaty with Seoul signed in 2018 to reduce tension in border areas in what is yet another disagreement that contributes to worsening the situation. environment on the peninsula.
This same Sunday, a US nuclear-powered submarine arrived in South Korea at a time marked by suspicions that Pyongyang could launch an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) before the end of the year.
The arrival of the submersible is the umpteenth example of the so-called “extended deterrence”, the mechanism by which Washington protects Seoul from a potential North Korean attack using the periodic deployment of its strategic assets on the Korean Peninsula.