An additional day after the North Korea launched two short-range ballistic missiles off its east coast. US Vice President Kamala Harris arrived in South Korea.
The UN-sanctioned launch occurs as joint naval drills between the US and South Korea are taking place near the Korean Peninsula.
Officials from South Korea and Japan have denounced the “provocations”.
It is the second launch this week and is a part of Pyongyang’s record-breaking testing year.
The timing is also critical since Ms. Harris will visit South Korea and go to the border. As well as the heavily fortified Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) that divides the North and South.
She denounced Pyongyang’s recent launches and its “illicit weapons programme which undermines regional stability” in a speech to US troops on a military post in Japan on Wednesday.
The launches are also a part of a larger trend of escalation given that denuclearization negotiations between the North and South are at a standstill and both parties are bolstering their defenses.
North Korea testing weapons
North Korea has tested more weapons this year than in any other single year. With this week’s launches being the first since early June; the earlier one occurred on Sunday before the naval drills started.
The missiles fired on Wednesday, according to South Korean authorities, were launched between 18:10 and 18:20 local time (09:10 and 09:20 GMT), traveled 360 km (225 miles), and ascended to a height of 30 km. The launch was also received by the Japanese coast guard.
The South Korean Joint Chiefs issued a statement in which they stated that “North Korea’s provocations will further enhance the South Korean-US deterrent and response capacity, and only increase North Korea’s isolation from the world community.”
US Aircraft for the first time
According to experts, the launches are retaliation for the four-day joint naval exercises. Which involve a US aircraft carrier for the first time since 2017. Washington and Seoul are stepping up their defense of South Korea.
Song Kim, Pyongyang’s envoy to the UN, criticized the US and South Korea for their military drills earlier this week. They were pushing the Korean Peninsula to “the verge of war.” He claimed that the world was “going into a far more perilous era” as a result of the United States’ “hostile stance” towards North Korea.
The US and South Korea have long defended their joint drills, claiming that they meant to stabilize the area.
The US and South Korea are concerned by how proactive the Communist state is becoming about having nuclear weapons.
North Korea passed a law earlier this month declaring itself to be a nuclear-armed state. Kim Jong-un, the leader, pledged that his nation would never give up its weapons or take part in nuclear disarmament negotiations.
In a variety of situations, the legislation also permits the North to open fire first. It consistently asserted up until recently that its weapons served as a deterrent and meant to avert war.
Us and south Korea
US and South Korean intelligence has warned for months that the North is prepared to test a nuclear weapon. But is awaiting the right political opportunity.
Its seventh nuclear test would be this one, and its first in five years. The nuclear test might take place between mid-October and early November, South Korea’s spy agency informed MPs yesterday, possibly capitalizing on a window between the Chinese Party Congress and the US midterm elections.
President Yoon Suk-yeol of South Korea, who entered office in May, has put a lot of effort into fortifying his country’s alliance with the US in order to counter the threat posed by North Korea.
