SEOUL, South Korea (AP) – North Korea launched multiple short-range ballistic missiles into its eastern waters Monday morning, neighboring countries said. Korea-US military exercises The North sees it as a dry run for an invasion.
The launch – North Korea's first known missile test activity in about a month – came as US Secretary of State Antony Blinken was in Seoul for a conference. Outside experts have previously predicted that North Korea will extend its missile tests and intensify its bellicose rhetoric ahead of November's U.S. presidential election in a bid to increase its future diplomatic influence. Ta.
Japan's Ministry of Defense announced that North Korea launched two missiles simultaneously at 7:44 a.m. and another three missiles about 37 minutes later. Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida told parliament that the North Korean missile landed in the waters between the Korean peninsula and Japan, outside Japan's exclusive economic zone, but there were no reports of damage or injuries.
Kishida condemned North Korea's repeated ballistic missile tests as acts that “threaten the peace and security of Japan, the region, and the international community.” He said Japan strongly protested North Korea's nuclear testing activities, arguing that they violate United Nations Security Council resolutions that prohibit North Korea from conducting any ballistic activities.
South Korea's military announced on Monday morning that it had also detected “several missiles” suspected to be short-range ballistic launches by North Korea. The Joint Chiefs of Staff called the launch a “clear provocation” that threatens peace on the Korean Peninsula. South Korea said it would remain ready to counter any provocations from North Korea based on its strong military alliance with the United States.
According to Japanese and South Korean assessments, the missile launched from North Korea's capital region traveled a distance of 300 to 350 kilometers (about 185 to 220 miles) and reached a maximum altitude of 50 kilometers (about 30 miles). . Combat ranges indicate that these weapons targeted key South Korean facilities, including military headquarters in the central region.
The US State Department condemned the launches, saying they posed a threat to North Korea's neighbors and undermined regional security. A State Department statement said the U.S. commitment to the defense of South Korea and Japan remains “ironclad.”
The United States has a total of 80,000 troops stationed in South Korea and Japan, making them the backbone of its military presence in the Asia-Pacific region.
During South Korea-US military exercises that concluded Thursday, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un led a series of military drills, including: tank, Cannon and dispatched airborne troops to improve their combat capabilities. 11 days of South Korea-US joint training Command post training using computer simulations and 48 types of field exercises, twice as many as last year, were held.
However, North Korea did not conduct missile tests during the rival training exercise. North Korea's missile tests are seen as an even larger provocation, as the country makes a strong push to equip missiles with nuclear warheads to target the U.S. mainland and its allies. Many experts say North Korea already has nuclear-tipped missiles that can reach all of South Korea and Japan, but it does not yet have a functioning long-range missile capable of hitting the U.S. mainland. There is.
Prior to Monday's launch, North Korea last conducted a missile test in mid-February, firing a cruise missile into the sea.
Hostilities remain high on the Korean peninsula following a barrage of missile tests by North Korea since 2022. Many of the tests involved nuclear-capable missiles intended to attack South Korea and the U.S. mainland. The U.S. and South Korean militaries have responded by expanding training. Exercises and trilateral training in which Japan also participates.
Experts say North Korea likely believes that increasing its weapons stockpile will give it more influence in future diplomacy with the United States. They argue that North Korea would hope to win broad sanctions relief while maintaining its nuclear arsenal.
Concerns about North Korea's military actions have deepened since Kim made the following vow: January speech It would rewrite the constitution to eliminate the country's long-standing goal of peacefully reunifying the peninsula and solidify South Korea as its “permanent main enemy.” He said the new charter should specify that North Korea will annex and conquer South Korea in the event of a new war.
Officials say North Korea may launch limited provocations along its tense border with South Korea. But they say the prospects for a full-scale attack by North Korea are bleak because they know North Korea's military strength is inferior to that of the U.S. and South Korean forces.
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Mr. Yamaguchi reported from Tokyo. Associated Press writer Yuri Kageyama in Tokyo contributed to this report.
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