19-7-2023 (TOKYO) In the early hours of Wednesday, North Korea fired two ballistic missiles in an eastward direction, as confirmed by the militaries of Japan and South Korea. This missile launch occurred shortly after an American ballistic missile submarine arrived in a South Korean port for the first time in four decades.
According to the Japanese defense ministry, both missiles fell outside of Japan’s exclusive economic zone.
The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) of South Korea called on North Korea to cease such launches, condemning them as grave provocative acts that undermine the peace and stability of the Korean peninsula and the international community. The JCS stated that these missile launches blatantly violated United Nations Security Council resolutions.
The United States military stated that it was aware of the missile launches and was in close consultation with its allies and partners.
While these launches do not appear to pose an immediate threat to the United States or its allies, they highlight the destabilizing impact of North Korea’s illicit weapons program, emphasized the US Indo-Pacific Command in a statement.
Japanese Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada informed reporters that the first missile reached an altitude of 50km and covered a range of 550km, while the second missile reached a similar altitude of 50km but flew a longer distance of 600km.
Japan has lodged a diplomatic protest against the missile launches, according to Minister Hamada.
These missile firings come just days after North Korea conducted a test of its latest Hwasong-18 intercontinental ballistic missile, which Pyongyang claimed was a warning to the United States and other adversaries.
Additionally, on Tuesday, a US soldier facing disciplinary action fled across the inter-Korean border into North Korea. The soldier is believed to be in North Korean custody, creating a new crisis between the two adversaries.
Leif-Eric Easley, a professor at Ewha University in Seoul, stated that while North Korea’s latest missile launches are likely unrelated to the American soldier crossing the inter-Korean border, such an incident does not contribute positively to the situation. He noted that North Korea opposes the establishment of a new US-South Korea nuclear war planning group, which convened for the first time on Tuesday, as well as the visit of the US nuclear ballistic missile submarine.
