(Seoul) North Korea fired at least one ballistic missile on Monday, the South Korean military said, just hours after another late-night launch of a short-range missile.
Published at 11:01 a.m. Updated at 7:24 p.m.
These two consecutive launches come a few days after warnings from Seoul and Washington which warned Pyongyang that “any nuclear attack” against the United States or its allies would bring about the end of the regime of Kim Jong-un, the North Korean leader. .
“North Korea fired an unidentified ballistic missile toward the Sea of Japan,” the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement.
The Japanese government said on X that North Korea had fired “what appears to be a ballistic missile,” without providing further information.
Hours earlier, Seoul said it had detected a short-range ballistic missile launched from the Pyongyang area on Sunday evening.
This missile traveled approximately 570 kilometers before crashing into the Sea of Japan, the Joint Chiefs of Staff said, adding that Seoul, Washington and Tokyo “in close collaboration, shared information regarding the North’s ballistic missile.” -Korean”.
The United States and South Korea participated in the second session of the Nuclear Advisory Group in Washington on Friday, focusing on nuclear deterrence in the event of conflict with the North.
It was on this occasion that the White House warned that any nuclear attack by Pyongyang would put an end to the regime.
Preventive and lethal response
On Sunday, a spokesperson for the North Korean Defense Ministry denounced a plan by the allies to add a nuclear exercise next year to their annual joint military exercises, threatening a “preventive and deadly counterattack” .
“This is an open statement on nuclear confrontation aimed at making the use of nuclear weapons against the DPRK a fait accompli,” the ministry said in a statement carried by the official North Korean News Agency. Korean KCNA.
“Any attempt to use armed forces against the DPRK will be met with a preemptive and deadly response,” the statement added, referring to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, North Korea’s official name.
Sunday’s short-range missile launch came as Pyongyang marked the death anniversary of leader Kim Jong-un’s father and predecessor, Kim Jong-il, who died on Dec. 17, 2011.
The US Indo-Pacific Command said in a statement that while the launch did not represent a threat to American territory or to Washington’s allies, it highlighted “the destabilizing impact of the weapons program illicit” from North Korea.
“The United States’ commitment to the defense of the Republic of Korea and Japan remains unwavering,” he added.
North Korea last year declared itself an “irreversible” nuclear power and has repeatedly said it would never abandon its nuclear program, which the regime considers essential to its survival.
Last month, North Korea succeeded in placing its first spy satellite “Malligyong-1” into orbit, after two failures in May and August.
The West, Japan and South Korea denounced this launch, as did UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, judging that the use of ballistic missile technologies violated UN Security Council resolutions.
2023-12-18 01:56:50
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