South Korea’s presidential office condemned North Korea’s launch of more than 10 short-range ballistic missiles yesterday and ordered its military to maintain full readiness during ongoing joint exercises with the United States.
The launch came after North Korea’s Kim Yo Jong, sister of Kim Jong Un, on Wednesday condemned the US-South Korea military drills, despite US President Donald Trump’s order to substantially reduce US participation in the exercises.
The presidential office convened an emergency security meeting attended by officials from the defence ministry and military authorities after North Korea fired the missiles from the Pyongyang area toward the sea to the east of the Korean Peninsula, it said in a statement.
“The ballistic missile launch is a grave act that violates UN Security Council resolutions,” it said, calling on North Korea to immediately halt such actions.
The missiles flew around 300km towards the sea, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said.
South Korean defence minister Ahn Gyu-back told legislators that the short-range ballistic missiles are believed to be 600mm multiple rocket launchers, adding that Seoul has been tracking them because they could be potentially deployed near its border with the South.
North Korea has previously described the 600mm system, known externally as the KN-25, as being able to deliver tactical nuclear warheads.
Ahn said earlier in the day that North Korea possesses between 80 and 120 nuclear warheads.
Military drills by South Korea and the US were cut short to end today after President Donald Trump ordered a substantial reduction in US participation and said he wanted to revive diplomacy with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
Trump said on Monday he had received a response from North Korean leader Kim Jong Un after the reduction.
But Kim’s sister, Kim Yo Jong, said on Wednesday she was unaware of any recent communications between the two countries’ leaders, while saying the United States’ “hostile policy” towards North Korea had not changed.
He said the launch likely served multiple purposes, including signalling opposition to the South Korea-US military exercises, expressing displeasure over recent discussion of North Korea’s nuclear arsenal, and warning outside powers against speculation about Pyongyang’s security affairs.
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