North Korea claimed to have fired two missiles on Monday capable, according to it, of carrying out a “tactical nuclear attack” and destroying enemy air bases, in response to aerial maneuvers carried out the day before by its South Korean neighbor with the United States. United.
This is the second North Korean launch in 48 hours: Pyongyang launched one of its most powerful intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) on Saturday, days before joint exercises between Seoul and Washington scheduled for later this week.
The launch of this ICBM, which Tokyo said fell in Japan’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), led Washington and Seoul to organize joint aerial maneuvers on Sunday.
North Korea’s official KCNA news agency confirmed Monday’s “exercise” was conducted in response to the air drills, with Pyongyang accusing the two allies of being responsible for the deteriorating security situation on the peninsula.
According to KCNA, North Korea on Monday used “super-sized multiple rocket launchers” which are “tactical nuclear attack means” powerful enough to “burn down” enemy airbases.
This allowed “the Korean People’s Army (to demonstrate) its full deterrent capability and willingness to counter” the joint US-South Korean air drills on Sunday, she said.
Unlike Pyongyang, the United States usually calls these rockets “short-range ballistic missiles”, explains the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), a think tank based in Washington.
The South Korean army claimed to have detected the firing of two short-range ballistic missiles on Monday between 07:00 and 07:11 (2200 and 2211 GMT) which covered a distance of 390 km for one and 340 km for the other before falling into the East Sea, also known as the Sea of ??Japan.
Seoul called the launch a “serious provocation that undermines peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula” and called on Pyongyang to end it “immediately”.
New sanctions have also been decided by South Korean diplomacy against four individuals and five entities linked to Pyongyang’s weapons programs.
“Our government has made it clear that North Korea’s provocations will inevitably come at a price,” she said in a statement.
The United Nations Security Council will hold an emergency meeting on Tuesday in New York on the Korean Peninsula.
In a statement released Monday morning, the North Korean leader’s sister, Kim Yo Jong, warned that Pyongyang would continue to monitor moves by Washington and Seoul to deploy more US strategic assets in the region, promising “countermeasures corresponding” to each perceived threat.
“The frequency with which the Pacific is used as a firing range depends on the type of action by US forces,” she said in a statement released by KCNA.
Pyongyang had claimed its ICBM launch on Saturday was a “surprise” drill that it said demonstrated its “deadly nuclear counterattack” capabilities.
Such statements aim to testify “not only to the development of strategic and tactical nuclear forces but also to the operational capacity” to mobilize them in the face of a certain international skepticism vis-à-vis North Korean military technologies, observes Leif-Eric Easley. from Ewha University in Seoul.
Saturday’s shooting was “strongly” condemned by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, his spokesman said on Sunday, urging Pyongyang to stop its “provocative actions”.
North Korea praised its soldiers for carrying out the “sudden firing exercise” on Saturday, but South Korean experts have pointed out that the nine-hour delay between the order and the launch was not particularly fast.
Kim Yo Jong dismissed these criticisms, describing them as “an attempt to underestimate the readiness of the ballistic forces” of Pyongyang.
“Kim’s virulent and angry reaction to the external assessment of his ICBM launch shows that the North is serious about sending the message that it is capable of striking the American continent,” Hong Min told AFP. , from the Korea Institute for National Unification, based in Seoul.
The use of shorter-range missiles indicates that North Korea is “virtually targeting US bases and the South Korean command center in the region”, Hong added.
The North’s launches, carried out despite heavy international sanctions on its weapons programs, came just before the start of joint drills between Seoul and Washington scheduled for later this week to improve their response in the event of an attack. North Korean nuclear attack.
Last week, Pyongyang warned it would react with “unprecedented” vigor to the upcoming drills, which it describes as preparations for war.
Relations between Pyongyang and Seoul are at their lowest for several years. In 2022, the North called its status as a nuclear power “irreversible” and Kim Jong Un called for “exponential” growth in the production of armaments, including tactical nuclear weapons.
20/02/2023 12:02:02 – Seoul (AFP) © 2023 AFP
