Into the Sea of Japan, two ballistic missiles were
launched by North Korea. Japan, on the other hand, claimed that no debris had
sunk into its territorial waters. Meanwhile, the UN Security Council has now
forbidden North Korea from testing ballistic missiles, which are considered
dangerous weapons.
The test was condemned by Japan and South Korea. North
Korea allegedly launched two non-ballistic missiles into the Yellow Sea a few
days ago.
According to the US Pacific Command, the test
demonstrated the danger North Korea's illegal weapons programme presents to its
neighbors and the international community. The Command is in charge of all
armed forces in the Asia-Pacific area.
The two projectiles were fired from South Hamgyong
province and flew 450 kilometres at an altitude of 60 kilometers, according to
South Korea's Ministry of National Defense.
According to Capt. Mike Kafka, public affairs officer
for the United States Indo-Pacific Command, officials were aware of the
launches and were tracking the situation.
"This operation emphasises North Korea's illegal
arms program's danger to its neighbours and the international community."
The United States' commitment to the security of the Republic
of Korea and Japan remains unequivocal, according to the document.
Second Test
in Less Than a Week
According to three US officials, North Korea conducted
its first weapons drill since US President Joe Biden took office, firing two
projectiles in a manoeuvre senior administration officials dismissed as
"on the low end of the scale" of provocations.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un was supposed to try to
send a message to the Biden administration about the country's importance in
the region, according to officials and analysts.
In that test, one US official claimed that North Korea
fired short-range warheads, likely artillery or cruise missiles, rather than
ballistic missiles, a crucial difference that underscored the Biden
administration's opinion that it was not a significant violation that would
preclude the US from seeking negotiations with Pyongyang.
However, in a speech to the Senate Armed Forces
Committee on March 16, US Air Force General Glen VanHerck cautioned the
isolated dictatorship that it might go much further.
Pyongyang has "indicated that it is no longer
bound by the unilateral nuclear and ICBM testing moratorium announced in 2018,
implying that Kim Jong Un could begin flight testing an improved ICBM design in
the immediate future," he said.
‘Launch
Wasn’t Entirely Unexpected’
A ballistic missile launch is a violation of UN
Security Council resolutions, which "would make life a bit more difficult
for the Biden people," according to Jeffrey Lewis, a professor at the
Middlebury Institute of International Studies who specialises in open-source
information.
Lewis, who had previously rated the weekend's
short-range launches as a "two" out of ten, later said that the
latest ballistic launches would be "more than a two."
The launch, however, was not completely surprising
given that it occurred only days after the US Secretary of State and Defence
Secretary visited the area, as well as following a joint US-South Korean
military exercise.
"They practise nuking us while we practise
attacking them. That's just the yin and yang of the case "Lewis
said.Though it is unknown what kind of ballistic missile was launched, Lewis
believes it was impossible to be the more powerful long-range missile.
"Long-range rockets were generally picked up as
they went up and remained aloft for 10-20 minutes. With the ICMBs, we knew
about the launch before they came down, which was a positive sign "He
said.
"This time, they went up and they came
down."
Are There
More Test Coming?
Many analysts speculated that North Korea will restart
testing at the start of Biden's tenure, as it has done in previous US
administrations.
North Korea conducts missile drills for a number of
purposes, including maintaining the reliability of its arsenal, bolstering
domestic support, and delivering a message to its adversaries."
North Korea seems to be returning to a common trend of
using provocations to lift tensions and attract interest," said Jean Lee,
director of the Wilson Center's Korea programme in Washington.
“With the US implying that it would continue to
intensify sanctions, North Korea will seek to extend its arsenal by ramping up
testing,” she said.
As part of their efforts to persuade North Korea to
give up its nuclear arsenal, White House officials have stated that they are considering
both negotiation and sanctions.
A senior North Korean foreign ministry official said
last week that talks with the US would be a "waste of time," and that
the country would "readily respond" to any new sanctions.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un announced in January
of last year that he no longer felt limited by his self-imposed ban on a
long-range missile and nuclear testing.
Pyongyang has not performed a nuclear test or fired an
intercontinental ballistic missile since 2017, prior to his negotiations with
former US President Donald Trump. Kim has regularly tested shorter-range
ballistic missiles, but Trump rejected those experiments as meaningless.
Written by - Anushka Jain
Edited by - Adrija Saha
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