| On March 25, North Korea fired a ‘new tactical guided missile’ from the Hamju area in South Hamgyong Province toward the East Sea. (Captured by Chosun Central TV) © News 1 |
It is understood that North Korea notified related organizations of its plan to test missiles in time for the start of the South Korea-U.S. joint military exercise in the second half of this year.
In response, the military and intelligence authorities of both countries are closely monitoring the possibility of armed demonstrations such as North Korea’s missile test launch, but it is reported that no unusual trends have been detected so far.
According to multiple sources on the 19th, North Korea’s Hydrographic Bureau recently notified Japan that it was planning to conduct a missile test launch in the East Sea.
Accordingly, the Japan Maritime Security Agency’s Maritime Intelligence Department issued a ‘NAVAREA navigation warning’ for the area northeast of the East Sea from the 11th to the 13th and the 15th to the 19th, and is urging the vessels passing through this area to be careful.
A ‘navigation zone warning’ is a navigation warning issued through the World Navigation Warning System (WWNWS) established by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) and the International Hydrographic Office (IHO). In the case of the western Pacific, including the Japan Coast Guard, the coordination agency is in charge.
However, contrary to what was previously announced, North Korea has not conducted a missile test until the morning of the 19th. Regarding this, a source said, “There is a possibility that the missile launch has been put on hold due to the recent bad weather conditions in North Korea.”
In fact, since the last 10 days in North Korea, most of the provinces including Hamgyeong-do and Pyeongan-do have been covered with clouds and rain has fallen, and some regions have had heavy rains.
However, as the Japan Coast Guard has announced that it will issue a navigation area warning related to missile launches in the relevant sea area on the 20th and 22nd-25th, it is noteworthy whether North Korea will actually force the missile launch during this period.
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| As of the morning of the 19th, an international navigation warning related to a ‘missile launch’ has been issued in the sea northeast of the East Sea (marked in red). (Japan Maritime Security Agency, Maritime Information Department website) © News 1 |
The ROK and U.S. military have been conducting joint command post exercise (21-2-CCPT) for the second half of this year from the 16th of this month. The CCPT is a computer simulation-based watercraft exercise (CPX), and does not include field training exercises (FTX) of the ROK and US military.
However, prior to this exercise, on the 1st of this month, North Korea issued a discourse urging to ‘suspend the training’ in the name of Kim Yo-jong, the younger brother of the general secretary of the Workers’ Party of Korea, Kim Yo-jong, the deputy director of the Central Committee of the Workers’ Party of Korea. On the 10th, when the staff training (CMST) began, in a statement in the name of Vice-Chairman Kim, he criticized “I express strong regret for the treacherous treatment of South Korean officials.”
North Korea also warned on the 11th in the name of Kim Yong-chol, director of the Central Committee of the Central Committee of the United Front, that in relation to the South Korea-US exercise, “(South Korean authorities) will make you feel every moment how close you are to a huge security crisis,” suggesting the possibility of armed provocation. has been interpreted as
In particular, since the afternoon of the 10th, North Korea has been refusing to respond to South Korea’s attempts to make regular calls using the inter-Korean joint liaison office and military communication lines in the East and West Sea regions.
In the midst of this, it is known that the North Korean military is carrying out a training for position occupation by moving a large number of troops to the forefront posts such as the Eastern Front, but the South Korean military authorities say it is a part of the North Korean military’s summer training that began in July.
At a regular briefing on the same day, Ministry of National Defense spokesman Boo Seung-chan said, “We believe that the North Korean military is currently conducting summer exercises. “He said.
However, the U.S. Air Force’s high-altitude unmanned aerial vehicle RQ-4 ‘Global Hawk’ flew over the West Sea and Gyeonggi and Gangwon Provinces adjacent to the Armistice Line on the 17th and 18th following the 10th and 11th, and the U.S. Air Force’s ground operations controller E- 8C ‘Joint Stars’ was also confirmed to have been sortie over the Korean Peninsula on the 18th, so it seems that vigilance and monitoring activities to identify North Korean military trends are continuing.
During the CCPT in the first half of this year, North Korea fired two cruise missiles into the West Sea on March 21, and two new short-range ballistic missiles (a new type of tactical guided missile) into the East Sea on March 25, after the end of the exercise.
ys4174@news1.kr
