North Korea on Sunday, launched a short-range ballistic missile in protest of military drills staged by the United States, citing the landing of a submarine in South Korea as “a preview of a nuclear war” and other acts of force.

The missile, according to the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) of South Korea, was fired toward the Sea of Japan, off the east coast of North Korea and traveled approximately 570 kilometers (350 miles) before crashing into the water.

The launch was followed by alerts from Seoul and Tokyo officials that nuclear-armed North Korea was getting ready to test-fire a missile, possibly one of its longest-range ICBMs, this month.

The launch was witnessed by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, according to official media. The satellite’s successful launch into orbit comes after two previous, failed efforts.

The launch was carried out using ballistic missile technology, which was denounced by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. It was deemed a “brazen violation” of UN sanctions by the US.

North Korea’s second Warning

North Korea launched its second missile launch in as many hours on Monday, according to a Japanese official. Pyongyang denounced the U.S.-led military demonstration as “war” maneuvers. The missile had a range that could have reached anyplace in the United States.

Following a threat from the US and South Korea that North Korea would end if it used nuclear weapons, the missile launches occurred one after the other.

The Joint Chiefs of Staff of South Korea claimed that the test fire was carried out from a location close to Pyongyang’s capital toward the sea off the country’s east coast.

The missile traveled over 1,000 kilometers (620 miles), according to a statement from South Korea’s military, before coming to rest in the ocean. According to the report, the missile was fired at an oblique angle, presumably to avoid nearby nations.

In the meantime, the missile’s flying range was claimed to be sufficient to encompass the whole United States by Japan’s Defense Ministry.

“Based on the trajectory and warhead weight, the ICBM-class ballistic missile that was fired this time may be able to fly over 15,000 kilometers. Then the entire US territory would fall into the range,” stated Shingo Miyake, Japan’s Parliamentary Vice-Minister of Defense.

It is believed that North Korea assembles its missiles at the international airport that serves Pyongyang.
These launches demonstrate the North’s aspirations to expand its armament with warheads with greater range that might one day reach the US mainland.

About an hour after launch, the missile that looked to have been shot from North Korea crashed into the sea west of Hokkaido, according to the coast guard in Japan.

The flight, according to Japan’s defense ministry, lasted 73 minutes, which is slightly less than the 74-minute flight of an ICBM that North Korea shot in July. The object, according to Japan, plummeted into the sea west of Hokkaido, outside of Japan’s exclusive economic zone, after reaching a maximum height of more than 6,000 km (3,728 miles).

US, South Korea, and Japan React to the Missile Launch

North Korea launched its second long-range missile in less than 12 hours on Monday. On Sunday night, it fired a short-range ballistic missile that traveled roughly 350 miles (570 km) from a location close to Pyongyang before crashing into the ocean.

Japan’s prime minister, Fumio Kishida, declared after the long-range missile launch that the missile launches “not only a clear violation of UN Security Council resolutions but also a threat to peace and stability of the region and we strongly condemn (them).”

Yoon Suk Yeol, the president of South Korea, has advocated for bolstering the US and South Korea’s combined nuclear deterrence against North Korea. In the meantime, the US has reaffirmed its promise to protect its allies in East Asia.

That week, Kim Tae-hyo, South Korea’s first deputy national security adviser, issued a warning that North Korea might launch an ICBM this month.

The launch, according to South Korea, was a “clear” breach of resolutions passed by the U.N. Security Council that forbid North Korea from employing ballistic missile technology.

“While elevating our alert readiness, our military is maintaining a full readiness posture by closely sharing data on the ‘North Korean ballistic missile’ with the United States and Japan,” the Joint Chiefs of Staff stated.

As tensions with North Korea have increased, the three allies have strengthened their trilateral security alliance.
According to U.S. intelligence, Pyongyang is giving Moscow weapons for its conflict with Ukraine in return for cutting-edge Russian technology that could boost North Korea’s nuclear program.

The nations have also kept an eye on the flow of weaponry between Russia and North Korea. The United States, South Korea, and Japan denounced the arms deal between Pyongyang and Moscow in a joint statement on October 25.

Although media reports and intelligence assessments suggest that weapons transfers have started, Russia and North Korea have formally denied any allegations of an arms agreement.
The Russian Defense Ministry declared that its Strategic Missile Forces had placed an RS-24 Yars ICBM into a silo in Kaluga Oblast on the same day that North Korea launched the missile.

China’s Support for North Korea

China on Monday expressed its “firm support” and faith in the two countries’ relations as criticism from the US and its allies persisted.

Concurrent with Pyongyang’s missile launch, China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi had high-level discussions with a vice foreign minister from North Korea in Beijing.

Pyongyang issued a harsh statement against Washington after the missile launch on Sunday, claiming that the US was behind what it dubbed a “preview of a nuclear war,” which included the presence of a nuclear-powered submarine in South Korea on Sunday.

Washington’s decision to incorporate nuclear scenarios into their joint drills was also met with criticism from Pyongyang, which saw it as an open threat to deploy nuclear weapons on the North. It promised to get ready “offensive countermeasures”.

The defense ministry of North Korea chastised “military gangsters” in South Korea and the US for inciting hostilities through nuclear war preparations, forceful demonstrations, and drills.

The American nuclear-powered submarine Missouri arrived in the South Korean port city of Busan on Sunday, according to a statement released by an unidentified ministry spokesperson.

U.S. nuclear submarine visits were previously uncommon, but as a result of agreements between Seoul and Washington, more U.S. military forces are now arriving.

As part of an endeavor to strengthen deterrence against North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs, the USS Carl Vinson, an aircraft carrier, also arrived in Bussan last month.

The meeting between South Korean and American officials in Washington was also denounced by the North Korean defense ministry as a provocative display of force and another indication of efforts to expedite war preparations.

In response to growing threats from North Korea, which has tested a variety of ballistic missiles and launched its first military spy satellite in November, the United States and South Korea have intensified their joint military drills.

Hopefully the Nuclear powers will return to dialogue and escalate the dispute between them. As the world cannot afford staging a nuclear disaster again.