North Korea fires multiple ballistic missiles toward the sea ahead of US election
UNB
Publish: 05 Nov 2024, 01:12 PM
SEOUL,
South Korea, Nov 5 (AP/UNB) - North Korea on Tuesday fired multiple short-range
ballistic missiles toward its eastern sea, the South Korean military said, as
the country continued its weapons demonstrations hours before the U.S.
presidential election.
South Korea's Joint
Chiefs of Staff said the missiles flew about 400 kilometers (250 miles) but
didn't specify how many were fired. Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said
they landed in waters outside of Japan's exclusive economic zone and there were
no immediate reports of damage.
The launches came days
after North Korean leader Kim Jong Un supervised a flight test of the country's
newest intercontinental ballistic missile designed to reach the U.S. mainland.
In response to that launch, the United States flew a long-range B-1B bomber in
a trilateral drill with South Korea and Japan on Sunday in a show of force.
That drew condemnation from Kim's powerful sister, who on Tuesday accused North
Korea's rivals of raising tensions with "aggressive and adventuristic
military threats."
South Korean officials
have said that North Korea was likely to dial up its military displays around
the U.S. presidential election to command the attention of Washington. South
Korea's military intelligence agency said last week that North Korea has also
likely completed preparations for its seventh nuclear test.
Outside officials and
analysts say North Korea eventually hopes to use an expanded nuclear arsenal as
leverage to win concessions such as sanctions relief after a new U.S. president
is elected.
There are widespread
views that Kim Jong Un would prefer a win by Republican candidate Donald Trump,
with whom he engaged in high-stakes nuclear diplomacy in 2018-19, seeing him as
a more likely counterpart to give him what he wants than Democratic candidate
Kamala Harris. During campaigning, Harris said she won't "cozy up to
tyrants and dictators like Kim Jong Un who are rooting for Trump."
North Korea claimed last
week that the Hwasong-19 it tested on Oct. 31 was "the world's
strongest" ICBM, but experts say the solid-fuel missile was too big to be
useful in war. Experts say North Korea has yet to acquire some critical
technologies to build a functioning ICBM, such as ensuring that the warhead
survives the harsh conditions of atmospheric re-entry.
Tensions between the
Koreas are at their highest point in years as Kim has repeatedly flaunted his
expanding nuclear weapon and missile programs, while reportedly providing
Russia with munitions and troops to support President Vladimir Putin's war in
Ukraine.
On Monday, U.S. State
Department spokesperson Matthew Miller told reporters that as many as 10,000
North Korean soldiers were in Russia's Kursk region near Ukraine's border and were
preparing to join Moscow's fight against Ukraine in the coming days. If they
engage in combat, it would be North Korea's first participation in a
large-scale conflict since the end of the 1950-53 Korean War.
After a meeting in Seoul
on Monday, senior South Korean and European Union officials expressed concerns
about Russia's possible transfer of technology to North Korea to enhance its
nuclear program in exchange for its troops. Such transfers would
"jeopardize the international non-proliferation efforts and threaten peace
and stability on the Korean Peninsula and across the globe," they said.
In response to North
Korea's growing nuclear threat, South Korea, the United States and Japan have
been expanding their combined military exercises and updating their nuclear
deterrence plans built around U.S. strategic assets.
North Korea has
portrayed the joint military drills by its rivals as rehearsals for an invasion
and used them to justify its relentless pursuit of nuclear weapons and
missiles.
At a U.N. Security
Council meeting Monday, North Korea's ambassador, Kim Song, defended the
North's nuclear and ICBM programs as essential for the country's self-defense
and a necessary response to what it perceives as nuclear threats from the
United States. He stressed that North Korea would accelerate the build-up of "our
nuclear force that can counter any threat presented by hostile nuclear weapon
states."
U.S. Deputy Ambassador
Robert Wood warned that the U.S. cannot stand back from North Korea's expanding
nuclear program and the growing threat to U.S. security "without a
response."
Wood also repeated last
week's call for Russia to say whether there are North Korean troops on the
ground in Russia. "We're not in a court here," Russian Deputy
Ambassador Anna Evstigneeva replied, "and the questions of the United States,
in the spirit of an interrogation, is not something I intend to answer."
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