North Korea launches missile after vowing to respond to US-Seoul alliance

South Korea’s military said it fired a short-range ballistic missile shortly after North Korea threatened to give a “hard” response to the US military rapprochement with South Korea.

The South Korean Chiefs of Staff determined that the bullet was a short-range ballistic missile fired from the Wonsan region of Kangwon province.

The missile traveled 240 km at a speed of Mach 4 at an altitude of 47 km.

Japan also confirmed that the missile was fired, which it and Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s office view as “a threat to the peace and security of our country, regional and international communities”.

This week, US President Joe Biden raised the issue of North Korea’s missile tests with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the G20 summit in Bali.

Biden urged Xi to use his influence to rein in North Korea after a series of missile launches fueled fears that Pyongyang was nearing its seventh nuclear test.

Biden also met with South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida about ways to address the North Korean threat of “illegal weapons of mass destruction and ballistic programs,” according to the White House.

“Unpredictable phase”

North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui criticized the talks on Thursday, saying they “bring the situation on the Korean peninsula to an unpredictable stage”.

Choe added that the more the United States tries to strengthen its security alliance with Tokyo and Seoul, “the more violent the backlash will be” from North Korea.

Analysts point out that Thursday’s shooting was “scheduled” to coincide with the minister’s announcement.

The North “fired the missile a few hours after the statement was issued, in an attempt to justify the launch as a message to the United States and Japan,” Cheong Seong-chang, a researcher at the Sejong Institute, told AFP.

A few weeks ago, North Korea carried out a series of launches, including an intercontinental ballistic missile that Seoul said failed.

It also fired a short-range ballistic missile that reportedly crossed the maritime border between the two countries and landed near South Korean territorial waters.

South Korean President Yoon said at the time that it was a “de facto territorial occupation”.

The two launches were part of a fire wave on November 2, when Pyongyang launched 23 missiles; US President Donald Trump.

Analysts point out that North Korea is taking the opportunity to test the banned missiles, in hopes that Russia will avoid further UN sanctions due to its impasse over waging a war in Ukraine.

China, Pyongyang’s main diplomatic ally, joined Russia in May to veto a US attempt at the UN Security Council to tighten sanctions on North Korea.

Washington responded to the North Korean tests with extended military exercises with Seoul, including the deployment of a strategic bomber.