N. Korea fires ballistic missiles, closing an unprecedented year of sabre-rattling
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North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un is presiding over a key meeting of his ruling party to decide on policy plans for 2023.
PHOTO: AFP
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SEOUL – North Korea fired three ballistic missiles towards the sea east of the Korean peninsula on Saturday, the South Korean military said.
The launches were the latest in an unprecedented number of missile tests conducted by North Korea in 2022, as Pyongyang presses on with weapons development amid speculation it could test a nuclear weapon for the seventh time.
The three short-range ballistic missiles were fired from around 8am local time from North Hwanghae province, south of the capital Pyongyang, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said.
All three flew at an altitude of about 100km and covered a range of about 350km, Japan’s Defence Ministry said. The South Korean military also said the missiles flew about 350km.
“North Korea’s ballistic missile(s) launch is a grave provocation that undermines peace and stability on the Korean peninsula as well as the international community,” South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said, condemning it as a clear violation of United Nations Security Council resolutions and urging Pyongyang to stop immediately.
The US Indo-Pacific Command said the latest launches from North Korea did not pose an immediate threat to American personnel or territory, or to Washington’s allies, but they highlighted the destabilising impact of North Korea’s weapons programme.
The launches came a day after South Korea’s Defence Ministry announced it had successfully conducted a test flight of a solid-propellant space launch vehicle.
Last Monday, five North Korean drones crossed into South Korea,
Relations between North Korea and US ally South Korea have grown more tense since South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol’s conservative government took over in May 2022, promising a tougher stance towards the North.
Not counting Saturday, North Korea has fired around 70 ballistic missiles about 38 times in 2022,
The North’s leader Kim Jong Un has also stepped up his provocations in recent months in a display of anger at joint military drills in the region
He is presiding over a meeting of his ruling Workers’ Party to review economic and political efforts for 2022 and decide on policy plans for 2023. He has shown no interest in returning to nuclear disarmament talks that have been stalled for nearly three years, and has pledged to never give up his nuclear arsenal.
The meeting is expected to finish this weekend.
On Saturday, the state-run Korean Central News Agency said Mr Kim has been analysing “the recent subjective and objective situation facing our revolution and the condition and circumstances to be foreseen in the future”.
Mr Kim has been modernising his inventory of missiles over the past several years to make them easier to hide, quicker to deploy and more difficult to shoot down.
In 2022, North Korea tested missiles designed to deliver nuclear weapons to South Korea and Japan,
North Korea on Nov 18 test-fired an ICBM, with Mr Kim’s daughter on hand for the launch, marking her first official appearance reported in state media.
Analysts said the move signalled that there is another generation ready to take over the Cold War’s last continuous family dynasty, and it will depend on nuclear weapons for its survival. REUTERS, BLOOMBERG
