Status: 08.10.2022 06:26
In recent days, North Korea has shot down more missiles, including one on Japan. Pyongyang has now defended it and speaks of “self-defense” in the face of a US threat.
North Korea justified its recent missile launches as a self-defense measure against the United States.
A spokesman for the national aviation authority said on Saturday, according to state news agency KCNA, that the missile tests are a “defense of national security and regional peace from direct US military threats that have persisted for more than half a century.”
It has also been argued that missile tests would not pose a threat to the immediate neighboring countries in the region.
The US sends nuclear-powered aircraft carriers
Despite strong protests, North Korea has repeatedly fired ballistic missiles in recent weeks. On Tuesday, the country also carried out a medium-range missile flight over the Japanese archipelago for the first time in five years.
Meanwhile, the United States deployed its nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan in waters east of the Korean Peninsula on Wednesday.
UN resolutions prohibit North Korea from testing ballistic missiles of any scale, which, depending on the design, can also carry a nuclear warhead.
The United States imposes sanctions
The United States also imposed sanctions on three companies and two individuals who allegedly helped the isolated country to refuel. In doing so, the US State Department said it directly supported the development of North Korea’s weapons and military programs. In particular, these are illegal ship-to-ship transfers, with which import restrictions to North Korea are said to have been circumvented.
North Korea launched ballistic missiles this year at “an unprecedented rate, scale and scale,” US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement. This year alone, 41 such missiles were launched, six of which were ICBMs. The new sanctions target individuals and companies in Singapore, Taiwan and the Marshall Islands. Any assets in the United States will be frozen. Doing business with them is prohibited for US citizens.
