North Korea fired
three ballistic missiles on Tuesday which flew between 500 and 600 km
(300-360 miles) into the sea off its east coast, South Korea’s military
said, the latest in a series of provocative moves by the isolated
country.
The U.S. military
said it detected launches of what it believed were two Scud missiles and
one Rodong, a home-grown missile based on Soviet-era Scud technology.
North
Korea has fired both types numerous times in recent years, an
indication that unlike recent launches that were seen as efforts by the
North to improve its missile capability, Tuesday’s were meant as a show
of force.
“This smells political
rather than technical to me,” said Melissa Hanham, a senior research
associate at the U.S.-based Middlebury Institute of International
Studies at Monterey, California.
“I
think the number and distance of the missiles lets them remind the ROK
(Republic of Korea) of what they are up against,” she said, referring to
South Korea by its official name.
North
Korea and the rich, democratic South are technically still at war
because their 1950-53 conflict ended in an armistice, not a peace
treaty. The North regularly threatens to destroy the Japan, South Korea
and the South’s main ally, the United States.
The
launches came nearly a week after South Korea and the United States
chose a site in the South to deploy the Terminal High Altitude Area
Defence (THAAD) anti-missile system to counter threats from the North,
which had prompted Pyongyang to threaten a “physical response”.
“Our assessment is that it was done as a show of force,” a South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff official said at a briefing.
The
missiles were launched from an area in the North’s western region
called Hwangju between 5:45 a.m. South Korea time (04:45 p.m. EDT
Monday) and 6:40 a.m., the South’s military said, an indication that the
North was confident they would not crash on its own territory.
“The
ballistic missiles’ flight went from 500 km to 600 km, which is a
distance far enough to strike all of South Korea, including Busan,” the
South’s military said in a statement.
Busan is a South Korean port city in the south.
North
Korea has test-fired a series of ballistic missiles in recent months,
in defiance of U.N. Security Council resolutions, including
intermediate-range missiles in June and a submarine-launched missile
this month.
“In addition to the
basic goal of enhancing missile units’ readiness to fight, it might be a
way of reminding their southern neighbors that the site chosen for a
THAAD battery in South Korea is within reach,” Joshua Pollack, editor of
the U.S.-based Nonproliferation Review, said of Tuesday’s launches.
South Korea announced last week the THAAD system would be deployed in the southeastern county of Seongju.
In
addition to the decision to base a THAAD system in South Korea, the
United States recently angered North Korea by blacklisting its leader
Kim Jong Un for human rights abuses.
“The
threat to our national security is growing very quickly in a short
period of time,” South Korean Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn told
parliament on Tuesday.
BOMBS, MISSILES AND SANCTIONS
North Korea
conducted its fourth test of a nuclear device in January, and activity
at its nuclear test site has increased recently, according to media
reports in South Korea and Japan citing government officials, as well as
a report by Washington-based North Korea monitoring project 38 North.
Following
the latest nuclear test and a February space rocket launch that was
widely viewed as a missile test in disguise, the U.N. Security Council
imposed tough new resolutions that further isolate North Korea.
While
China supported tougher sanctions against its neighbor and ally North
Korea, it has sharply criticized the decision to base a THAAD battery in
South Korea, saying the move would destabilize the security balance in
the region.
“The situation on the
Korean peninsula is severe and complex and all sides should avoid any
actions that raise tensions,” China’s foreign ministry said, echoing
previous statements.
Japan denounced the launches.
“The
latest launch is a breach of the UN Security Council resolution and is
extremely hazardous to shipping and aircraft and we have strongly
protested,” the Japanese government said in a statement.
Source: Reuters
