North Korea fired two cruise missiles on Wednesday, the South Korean Defense Ministry said. The launches come a day after Washington and Seoul held joint maneuvers in preparation for a major annual exercise — which Pyongyang considers invasion training.
According to military officials, the missiles were fired towards the West Sea (Yellow Sea) from Onchon in South Pyongan Province, adding that details about the launches, including the flight distance, are being analyzed along with the USA.
The country’s last weapons test had been in July, when the North Korean regime used what appeared to be rocket launchers. Several military exercises have been carried out since the beginning of the year, including the launch of a nuclear-capable intercontinental missile — the first since 2017.
The US and South Korea have warned on several occasions that Kim Jong-un’s regime is preparing the seventh nuclear test in its history.
In recent years, the allies have scaled back joint military exercises due to the coronavirus pandemic and as a way to ease tensions with Pyongyang. In June, the two countries threatened to impose more sanctions and even review the US military posture if new nuclear tests were carried out.
On Wednesday, just hours after the launch of the missiles, South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol said that talks with his northern neighbor should not be for political purposes, but to contribute to the establishment of peace.
In an interview to mark his first 100 days in office, Yoon did not mention the shooting, but repeated his willingness to provide economic aid if the country commits to denuclearization.
“Any dialogue between the leaders of the South and the North, or negotiations between officials, should not be a political spectacle, but should contribute to establishing substantive peace on the Korean peninsula and Northeast Asia,” he said.
Despite the statements, talks on denuclearization stalled in 2019 and North Korea has said it will not give up its self-defense.
The recent missile tests revive the debate over whether the South should pursue its own nuclear weapons. Yoon says he is committed to the NPT (Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons), adding that he works with the United States to increase its deterrence capability. “The NPT must not be abandoned and I will stick to it until the end,” he said.
Although Pyongyang has not conducted a missile test in two months, in late July, dictator Kim Jong-un said the country was “ready to mobilize” its nuclear deterrent in the face of possible military clashes with the United States and South Korea.
The confrontation with Washington, he said, has posed nuclear threats since the conflict in the 1950s and requires the North to undertake an “urgent historic task” to bolster its self-defense.
At the time, Kim also criticized the South Korean president, promising to be tougher on his neighbor. “Talking about military action against our nation, which possesses the absolute weapons they fear most, is absurd and a very dangerous self-destructive action,” he stressed.
