North Korea fired several ballistic missiles into the East Sea on the 18th, the day of the US-South Korea foreign ministers’ meeting.
The Joint Chiefs of Staff stated, “Our military detected several flying objects presumed to be short-range ballistic missiles (SRBMs) launched from the area of North Hwanghae Province towards the East Sea at around 7:44 a.m. today.”
Our military is currently analyzing the exact specifications, such as their flight distance, altitude, and speed, of the ballistic missiles fired by North Korea today.
The Japanese Ministry of Defense announced that North Korea fired two objects presumed to be ballistic missiles in succession, and both projectiles fell outside Japan’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).
The Joint Chiefs of Staff explained, “Our military has strengthened surveillance and alertness in anticipation of additional launches while maintaining a full readiness posture by closely sharing information related to ‘North Korean ballistic missiles’ with U.S. and Japanese authorities.”
North Korea’s missile provocation comes about a month after the launch of the cruise missile “Padasuri-6” on the 14th of last month. This is the second time this year that North Korea launched ballistic missiles, which are prohibited by the UN Security Council resolution, following the launch on January 14th.
There is speculation that North Korea’s missile provocation today was targeted at the US-South Korea foreign ministers’ meeting, which included a luncheon between Minister of Foreign Affairs Cho Tae Yul and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken scheduled that day. Secretary Blinken arrived in Korea on the 17th for this purpose.
The ministers will discuss ways to cooperate on democracy between the two countries, strengthen the US-South Korea alliance, and manage the situation on the Korean Peninsula. They are likely to announce their stance related to North Korea’s “nuclear-armed state” opinion.
There are predictions that North Korea will engage in frequent provocations for the time being, starting with the ballistic missile launch. North Korea is believed to have refrained from provocations in line with major political agendas such as China’s Lianghui and Russia’s presidential election during the US-South Korea joint exercise “Freedom Shield” (FS) in the first half of this year. However, these agendas have all ended now.
There are also predictions that North Korea will launch its second military reconnaissance satellite in April. April is a month filled with North Korea’s major anniversaries and holidays, including the birthday of President Kim Il Sung “Day of the Sun” (15th) and the Anniversary of the Korean People’s Revolutionary Army (25th).