North Korea fired a salvo of short-range ballistic missiles early Tuesday, the South Korean military said, its second launch in five days, coming hours before the U.S. presidential election.
The firing of “several short-range ballistic missiles” towards waters east of the Korean peninsula was detected around 7:30 a.m. Tuesday (22:30 GMT Monday), the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff said.
“In anticipation of new launches, our armed forces have strengthened their surveillance and vigilance,” added the general staff, indicating that it was sharing information with Tokyo and Washington.
Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba confirmed to journalists in Tokyo the launch of “several ballistic missiles”, which “are estimated to have fallen outside” the Japanese exclusive economic zone (EEZ).
Nuclear-armed North Korea on Thursday tested what it said was its new solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), the most advanced in its arsenal.
It was the first show of force by North Korean power since it was accused of sending thousands of troops to Russia.
The shooting also came just hours after the defense ministers of the United States and South Korea called on Pyongyang to withdraw its troops from Russia, where Washington says about 10,000 troops have been deployed in preparation for of possible action against the Ukrainian forces, at war against the Russian army since 2022.
On Sunday, South Korea, Japan and the United States conducted a joint air exercise involving a heavy bomber in response to the ICBM launch.
The exercise mobilized the American B-1B bomber, South Korean F-15K and KF-16 fighters as well as Japanese F-2 fighters.
American-South Korean military maneuvers never fail to irritate Pyongyang, which considers them a rehearsal for a future invasion of its territory.
«Nature agressive»
Kim Yo Jong, the influential sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, said the exercise was “just a new, action-based explanation of the most hostile and dangerous aggressive nature of the enemy with regard to our Republic.
In a statement released Tuesday by North Korea’s KCNA news agency, Kim Yo Jong said the exercise was “absolute proof of the validity and urgency of the nuclear force development line we have chosen.” and put into practice.
She warned that any “disruption of the balance of power between rivals on the Korean Peninsula and in the region precisely means war.”
Experts have suggested that Pyongyang’s series of weapons tests could be an attempt to distract from its supposed troop deployment to Russia, or to elevate itself to the top of the agenda ahead of the U.S. elections in Tuesday.
Russia and North Korea, which view the United States as an existential enemy, have grown considerably closer since Vladimir Putin launched an assault on Ukraine in February 2022, with the two countries notably concluding a mutual defense agreement during the Russian president’s June visit to Pyongyang.
The North Korean government has been suspected for many months of supplying large quantities of shells to Russia as well as hundreds of missiles. Now, according to Washington, the North is also providing thousands of soldiers to fight in Ukraine alongside Russian forces.
South Korea, a major arms exporter, has said it is exploring the possibility of sending weapons directly to Ukraine in response, something it has so far opposed in due to a long-standing national policy that prevented it from supplying weapons to countries engaged in active conflicts.
North Korea has not confirmed or denied the presence of troops in Russia, but in the first comment published in state media in late October, its deputy foreign minister said that if such a deployment were to take place , it would be consistent with international law.
