Seoul, South Korea
CNN
—
North Korea launched two ballistic missiles into waters off its east coast on Sunday.
The launch, reported by both South Korean and Japanese authorities, marked the 35th day this year since North Korea conducted a missile test.
They followed North Korea’s claim on Friday that it had successfully tested a solid-fuel rocket motor.
The last time North Korea conducted a missile test was on November 18, when it launched the Hwasong-17 intercontinental ballistic missile.
Japanese officials said the missile launched on Sunday reached an altitude of 550 kilometers (342 miles) and flew a distance of 500 kilometers (311 miles), suggesting it was not a long-range ballistic weapon.
The South Korean military identified them as MRBMs, medium-range ballistic missiles. It denounced the launch as a “grave provocative act that undermines the peace and stability of the Korean Peninsula and the international community” and a clear violation of UN Security Council resolutions.
Japan’s State Minister of Defense Toshiro Ino said the missile fell into the sea, and so far there have been no reports of damage to aircraft or ships in the region. He said the Japanese government had lodged a protest with North Korea through diplomatic channels.
South Korea and the United States urged North Korea to immediately stop its missile tests.
North Korea has been testing missiles of various sizes and components this year.
Ankit Panda, a nuclear policy expert at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, told CNN last week that the pace of nuclear tests this year shows North Korea’s rise as a missile powerhouse.
“The big picture is that North Korea is literally becoming a prominent operator of a massive missile force,” Panda said.
“The word test is no longer appropriate to talk about most North Korean missile launches,” Panda said.
“Most of the missiles they have launched this year are part of military exercises. They are rehearsing for nuclear war.
Panda and other analysts point out that North Korea’s missile test follows an ambitious plan Kim has set for 2021 to become a powerhouse in the field.
The latest tests come just days after the new US Space Force Command was installed in South Korea.
The new unit, which will be headquartered at Osan Air Force Base south of Seoul, will be tasked with coordinating space operations and services such as missile warning, positional navigation, timing and satellite communications in the region, according to the USFK. That’s what I mean.
Asked what a potential adversary like North Korea could gain from the formation of the force, Space Force South Korea commander Lieutenant Colonel Joshua McAllion said he hopes it will have a deterrent effect. Stated.
“I hope they see that we are ready,” he said.