North Korea Fires Missile Into Sea Off Japan as U.S. and South Korea Prepare for Drills

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea on Saturday fired a long-range missile from its capital into the sea off Japan, according to its neighbors, a day after it threatened to take strong measures against South Korea and the U.S. over their joint military exercises.

According to South Korean military and Japanese military, the missile was fired from a high angle to avoid hitting neighboring territories. It traveled approximately 560 mile at a maximum altitude 3500 miles in an hourlong flight.

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These details were identical to North Korea’s Hwasong-17 intercontinental-ballistic missile test flight in Nov., which experts claimed demonstrated the potential to reach U.S. soil if fired at a normal trajectory.

Hirokazu Matsuno, spokesperson for Japan, said that no damage was caused by the missile. It landed in Japan’s exclusive economic area, approximately 125 miles west from Oshima Island. Oshima is located off the western coast on the northernmost main Island of Hokkaido.

Friday was a day of threats by the North Korean Foreign Ministry. “unprecedently” After South Korea announced that it would be participating in a series military exercises with the United States to strengthen their response against the North’s growing threats, the United States took strong action.

Although the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command claimed that the launch didn’t pose an immediate threat U.S. personnel, territories, or allies, The White House National Security Council stated it would cause tensions to rise and threaten the security of the region.

“It only demonstrates that the DPRK continues to prioritize its unlawful weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile programs over the well-being of its people,” It said, calling it “a”. “flagrant violation of multiple U.N. Security Council resolutions.”

According to the office of South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, Kim Sung Han, his national security director presided over an emergency security conference that accused North Korea of increasing regional tensions. It condemned North Korea for its acceleration of nuclear arms development in spite of signs that food insecurity is worsening.

Fumio Kishida the Japanese Prime Minister said Tokyo was in close contact with Washington, Seoul and Seoul about the launch. “an act of violence that escalates provocation toward the international order.”

North Korea launched its first short-range weapon since Jan. 1st. The launch came after a huge military parade in Pyongyang last Thursday, when more than a dozen ICBMs were rolled out by troops. Kim Jong Un, the leader of North Korea’s military, watched from a balcony.

This unprecedented number of missiles demonstrates that he is continuing to expand his country’s military capabilities, despite having limited resources and negotiating with Washington still deadlocked.

Experts believe that the missiles were equipped with a new system, which could be linked to North Korea’s declared desire to purchase a solid-fuel ICBM. Hwasong-17s is one of the North’s ICBMs. It uses liquid propellants which require pre-launch injections. These liquid propellants cannot be fueled long term. Solid fuel would be quicker to prepare and easier to transport on vehicles, which will make it less likely that you are spotted.

It wasn’t immediately known if Saturday’s launch was a solid-fuel system.

“North Korean missile firings are often tests of technologies under development, and it will be notable if Pyongyang claims progress with a long-range solid-fuel missile,” Leif-Eric Easley is a professor of international Studies at Ewha Womans University, Seoul. “The Kim regime may also tout this launch as a response to U.S. defense cooperation with South Korea and sanctions diplomacy at the United Nations.”

North Korea just finished a record-breaking year of weapons demonstrations, with more than 70 missiles being fired. Some even had the potential to reach the U.S. mainland. In response to the resumption by allies of large-scale joint naval exercises that had been reduced for many years, the North launched a series of launches it called simulated nuclear strikes against South Korean targets and U.S. bases.

North Korea’s missile test were punctuated with threats of preemptive nukes against South Korea and the United States for what it perceives to be a broad range scenarios that place its leadership in danger.

Kim increased his nuclear push into 2023 and called for an increase in the number of people who can use it. “exponential increase” In the country’s nuclear warheads mass production of tactical battlefield nuclear weapons “enemy” South Korea and the development more advanced ICBMs.

Friday’s North Korean statement accused Washington, Seoul, and Seoul of planning more military drills than 20 rounds in the coming year. The North Koreans also called its rivals “rivals”. “the arch-criminals deliberately disrupting regional peace and stability.”

Officials from South Korea’s Defense Ministry told lawmakers that Washington and Seoul will host an annual computer-simulated combined training session in March. According to Heo Taekeun, South Korea’s deputy minister of national defence policy, the training will cover North Korea’s nuclear threats as well as lessons from the Russia/Ukraine war. Heo also said that joint exercises will be held by the two countries in mid-March, which will be more extensive than those conducted in the past few year.

The U.S. and South Korea will also hold a one day tabletop exercise next Wednesday at the Pentagon in an effort to intensify their response to North Korea’s use of nuclear arms.

North Korea has always referred to U.S.-South Korea military drills as preparations for an invasion. However, the allies insist that they are defensive.

The United States of America and South Korea had reduced or canceled several of their major drills in the recent years. First, to support the Trump administration’s diplomatic efforts with Pyongyang, then due to COVID-19. The growing nuclear threat from North Korea has made it imperative for Japan and South Korea to increase their defense capabilities in line with their alliances.

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South Korea is seeking assurances that the United States will quickly and decisively use nuclear capabilities to defend its ally against a North Korean nuclear attack. The United States expressed its willingness to expand its military exercises with South Korea and to deploy more strategic military assets, such as fighter jets or aircraft carriers to the Korean Peninsula as a sign of its strength.

Japan abandoned its post-World War II self-defense only principle in December and adopted a new national strategy for security that includes preemptive strikes, cruise missiles, and countering growing threats from Russia and China.