Aiming for ‘Korea-US’ following ‘Korea-Japan’… North Korea launches another ballistic missile

North Korea fired a short-range ballistic missile into the East Sea on the 19th. On the 16th, just three days after the launch of the Hwasong-17 intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), the armed protests against the ROK-US joint training continued. The ROK and US Air Forces held an air drill in which US strategic bombers participated.

The Joint Chiefs of Staff announced that it had detected a short-range ballistic missile launched into the East Sea from the Dongchang-ri area, North Pyongan Province, North Korea at approximately 11:05 on the same day. The missile flew about 800 km and landed in the East Sea.

Japan’s Ministry of Defense also said, “The North Korean missile is estimated to have flown about 800 km at a maximum altitude of about 50 km and landed outside Japan’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ).” Reported.

The Joint Chiefs of Staff said, “We strongly condemn North Korea’s successive ballistic missile launches as a serious act of provocation that harms peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula and the international community, and is in clear violation of resolutions United Nations Security Council.”

On this day, South Korea and the United States demonstrated their extended deterrence against North Korea by using US strategic assets. According to the Ministry of National Defense, US B-1B strategic bombers, US Air Force F-16 fighters, and South Korean Air Force F-35A stealth fighters conducted joint air exercises over the Korean Peninsula. The deployment of the B-1B to the Korean Peninsula is the first in 16 days. The B-1B also participated in the air training between the United States and Japan in the East Sea that day, the Joint Chiefs of Staff of Japan (Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff) announced.

North Korea’s nuclear program senior representatives from South Korea, the United States, and Japan held a three-way wire consultation on the same day to condemn the ballistic missile launch, and agreed to strengthen cooperation between South Korea, the United States, and Japan on North Korea at a meeting of the United Nations Security Council on the 20th, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.

North Korea’s missile launch on this day is being analyzed as a level of opposition to the South Korea-US joint “Freedom Shield (FS)” exercise that began on the 13th. North Korea continued provocative military actions, such as the launch of two submarine-launched cruise missiles on the 12th, a day before the start of the FS, the launch of two short-range ballistic missiles on the 14th, and the launch of the Hwasong-17 ICBM on the 16th. .

As for the FS, which South Korea and the United States have defined as ‘defense purposes’, North Korea strongly criticizes it as a “war exercise against North Korea”. Leading the launch of the Hwasong-17 ICBM at the spot on the 16th, Chairman Kim Jong-un said, “We will continue to make the United States and South Korea aware of its recklessness, which is openly hostile to the Republic of Korea and often conducts large-scale military exercises in the Korean Peninsula.” It suggests a ‘strong to strong’ response. The Rodong Sinmun also said on the 16th, “We will continue to suppress the reckless military provocations of the United States and its followers with overwhelming force.”