A day after the latest North Korean missile test, the US and South Korea fired missiles themselves in the region. South Korea’s military said on Wednesday that the United States and South Korea fired four surface-to-surface missiles toward the Sea of Japan (Korean: East Sea) in response to North Korea’s provocation. Both sides would have fired two missiles each, which would have hit decoy targets precisely. This demonstrated the Allies’ ability to deter further provocations.
On Tuesday, Pyongyang fired a medium-range ballistic missile toward the Sea of Japan. With a flight distance of around 4500 kilometers, a North Korean missile has never before covered a longer range. It was the first time in almost five years that a North Korean missile had flown over the Japanese archipelago. There, the test triggered a rare missile alert: residents of the northern Japanese island of Hokaido and Aomori Prefecture on the northern tip of Japan’s main island of Honshu were asked to seek shelter in their homes.
Also on Wednesday morning, another missile from the South Korean army fell to the ground after a false launch. As reported by the Yonhap news agency, citing the South Korean general staff, no one was injured in the accident near the east coast city of Gangneung. The cause of the crash was initially unknown. Panic broke out among some residents of Gangneung, initially fearing an attack by North Korea.
Both the US and NATO had condemned Tuesday’s North Korean test. US President Joe Biden spoke of a “danger to the Japanese people”. The US also wants to request a meeting of the UN Security Council for Wednesday. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg wrote on Twitter: “I strongly condemn North Korea’s dangerous and destabilizing missile tests.”
In direct response, South Korean forces dropped two precision bombs on an uninhabited island in the Yellow Sea. In addition, flight maneuvers were held together with US F-16 fighter jets. The Yellow Sea is bordered by China and the Korean Peninsula.
The last time North Korea launched a missile over Japan in 2017, the country conducted a nuclear weapons test just days later. Experts fear that North Korea could test another nuclear missile in the coming weeks. According to the South Korean Defense Ministry, the North Korean military is also preparing further tests for an ICBM and a ballistic submarine missile.
UN resolutions prohibit North Korea from testing ballistic missiles of any range, which, depending on the design, can also carry a nuclear warhead. Most recently, North Korea tested two short-range ballistic missiles on Saturday – that was the fourth missile launch within a week.
Experts also see North Korea’s increased missile tests as a reaction to the recently held naval maneuvers by South Korean and US forces. The aircraft carrier “USS Ronald Reagan” also took part in the four-day naval exercises. It was the first deployment of a US aircraft carrier to South Korea in almost four years.
