North Korea fires several short-range missiles, condemns South’s military drills

SEOUL – North Korea fired at least seven short-range ballistic missiles on Nov 5 off its east coast, Japan’s Defence Minister said, soon after Pyongyang condemned military drills by its rivals and just hours before the US election.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s sister condemned the drills involving the United States, Japan and South Korea, in a report published on state media KCNA.

At least seven missiles flew to an altitude of 100km and covered a range of 400km before falling outside Japan’s exclusive economic zone into the ocean, said Japanese Defence Minister Gen Nakatani.

They were fired at around 7.30am on Nov 5 from the vicinity of Sariwon, North Hwanghae Province, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said, and came hours before voting opened in the US presidential election.

The US is consulting closely with South Korea, Japan and other regional allies after the launches and will be monitoring the situation, the US military said.

The latest launch follows North Korea’s test last week of a

huge new solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) dubbed Hwasong-19

.

“If the ICBM was meant for the US, the latest ballistic missiles are for South Korea,” said Professor Yang Moo-jin, president of the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul.

“Directly, it is to protest the joint air drills by South Korea, the US and Japan. Indirectly, it is to show off their presence last minute before the US presidential election,” said Prof Yang.

He saw the intent as to deflect the international community’s attention away from criticising the dispatch of North Korean troops to Russia.

KCNA on Nov 5 said Ms Kim Yo Jong, the powerful sister of North Korea’s leader, condemned recent military drills by the US, Japan and South Korea as threats and said they

justify North Korea’s nuclear reinforcement

.

The missile launch came after Russian President Vladimir Putin unexpectedly met North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui on Nov 4.

During the surprise meeting at the Kremlin, the pair shook hands for a full minute at a time of mounting concern in the West that North Korean soldiers are about to enter the Ukraine war on Moscow’s side.

On Nov 4, the US called out Russia and China at the UN Security Council for “shamelessly protecting” and emboldening North Korea to further violate UN sanctions by advancing its ballistic missile, nuclear and weapons of mass destruction programmes.

South Korean Defence Minister Kim Yong-hyun said in October that North Korea “would want to exaggerate their existence around the season of the US presidential election before and after the election” by show of force such as an intercontinental missile test or another nuclear test. REUTERS