North Korea has launched a long-range ballistic missile toward its eastern waters.
The launch, made on Wednesday, July 12, 2023, comes two days after the North, in objection to what it called a provocative U.S. reconnaissance activity near its territory, threatened “serious” consequences.
North Korea’s most recent long-range missile test before Wednesday’s launch took place in April.
According to South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, the South’s military detected the long-range missile launch from the North Korea’s capital region around 10 a.m.
It added in a statement that South Korea’s military reinforced its surveillance posture and maintained readiness in close coordination with the United States.
Meanwhile, Japanese Defense Minister, Yasukazu Hamada informed reporters that the North Korean missile was likely launched on a lofted trajectory, at a steep angle that North Korea typically uses to avoid neighboring countries when it tests long-range missiles.
Hamada added that the missile was expected to land at sea about 550 kilometers (340 miles) east of the coast of the Korean Peninsula outside of the Japanese exclusive economic zone.
Also, Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary, Hirokazu Matsuno, disclosed that the missile flew for about 74 minutes, the longest ever flight time for a North Korean missile, reaching an altitude of 6,000 km (3,728 miles).
Matsuno labelled the launch as a “serious provocation” in breach of United Nations sanctions and said a “stern protest” had been lodged through diplomatic channels in Beijing.
North Korea’s long-range missile program are targeted at the mainland U.S. Since 2017, North Korea has carried out a number of intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) launches as part of its efforts to acquire nuclear-tipped weapons capable of striking major U.S. cities.
Some experts believe that North Korea still has to master some technologies in order to possess functioning nuclear-armed ICBMs.
Shows Of Force Aimed To Disrupt Diplomatic Coordination Against Pyongyang
Leif-Eric Easley, a Professor at Ewha University in Seoul, opined that North Korea schedules its “shows of force to disrupt what it perceives as diplomatic coordination against it, in this case, South Korea and Japan’s leaders meeting during the NATO summit.”
Japanese Prime Minister, Fumio Kishida is expected to meet South Korean President, Yoon Suk-yeol in Vilnius, the Lithuanian capital, later on Wednesday.
Wednesday’s launch, the North’s first weapons firing in about a month, came after North Korea earlier this week released a series of statements accusing the United States of flying a military plane close to North Korea to spy on the North.
The United States and South Korea dismissed the North’s accusations and urged it to refrain from any acts or rhetoric that spur hostility.
In a statement on Monday, July 10, 2023, night, Kim Yo Jong, the powerful sister of North Korean leader, Kim Jong Un, warned the United States of “a shocking incident” as she claimed that the U.S. spy plane flew over the North’s eastern exclusive economic zone eight times earlier in the day.
She claimed the North scrambled warplanes to chase away the U.S. plane.
In another statement on Tuesday, July 11, 2023, Kim Yo Jong pronounced that the U.S. military would experience “a very critical flight” if it continues its illicit, aerial spying activities.
The North’s military separately threatened to shoot down U.S. spy planes.
“Kim Yo-jong’s bellicose statement against U.S. surveillance aircraft is part of a North Korean pattern of inflating external threats to rally domestic support and justify weapons tests,” Leif-Eric Easley said.
North Korea has made several similar threats over alleged U.S. reconnaissance activities. However, its latest statements came amid heightened tensions over North Korea’s barrage of missile tests earlier this year.
