People watch a TV program showing North Korea’s first test launch of a new strategic cruise missile “Pulhwasal-3-31” at Yongsan Railway Station in Seoul. North Korea fired ballistic missiles into the sea for the first time in two months on Monday, as U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited Seoul to attend a meeting on promoting democracy chaired by President Yun Seok-yeol.
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North Korea fired ballistic missiles into the sea for the first time in two months on Monday, as U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited Seoul to attend a meeting on promoting democracy chaired by President Yun Seok-yeol.
The South Korean military said that multiple short-range missiles were launched from areas south of the North Korean capital Pyongyang and landed in the eastern part of the Korean Peninsula. It gave no further details and said it was sharing information about the launch with the United States and Japan.
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida condemned the launch, which came after Japan’s coast guard also reported the launch of what it said was a ballistic missile, noting that the missile had ended its flight.
Japan later said it detected what appeared to be a second ballistic missile launch by North Korea, both of which landed outside its exclusive economic zone.
“North Korea’s series of actions threaten the peace and security of our region and the international community and are absolutely unacceptable,” Kishida said, calling the launch a violation of U.N. resolutions.
North Korean troops have practice Conventional weapons have been used in recent weeks, often under the personal supervision of the isolated country’s leader, Kim Jong Un.
Pyongyang’s show of force comes as South Korean and U.S. troops concluded a massive 10-day annual joint military exercise last Thursday.
South Korea’s military also mobilized marines, attack helicopters and amphibious assault vehicles on Sunday for drills aimed at increasing troop strength to reinforce western islands close to North Korea’s maritime border. In 2010, North Korea shelled the islands.
Blinken is one of the top officials from around the world attending the Democracy Summit, which opens on Monday. He will also meet with South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yeol.
This summit is an initiative US President Joe Biden’s speech was intended to discuss how to stop the backsliding of democracy and the erosion of rights and freedoms around the world.
In its last ballistic launch on January 14, North Korea launched what it said was a solid-fuel medium-range hypersonic missile to test a new booster engine and steerable warhead.
A month later, it launched multiple cruise missiles off the east coast, including what it said were new anti-ship missiles.
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