North Korea: two short-range ballistic missiles launched

North Korea has launched two more short-range ballistic missiles. The South Korean military reports it. The launch comes after South Korea and the United States staged joint air exercises on Sunday, themselves in response to Pyongyang's launch of a Hwasong-15 ICBM into the East Sea. "The use of the Pacific as a firing range depends on the actions of American forces", declares the sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, Kim Yo-jong.

The intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) launched yesterday by North Korea was a warning for the US and Seoul. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, who ordered a surprise "launch exercise" on Saturday at 8:00 local time, says the exercise was a success and demonstrates North Korea's "deadly nuclear counterattack capabilities". A Hwasong-15 missile was then fired from Pyongyang airport in the afternoon, according to state news agency KCNA. The first test of a Hwasong-15 was conducted by Pyongyang in 2017.

The South Korean military said it detected the launch of an ICBM on Saturday at 5:22 pm local time which, according to Tokyo, flew for 66 minutes before landing in its Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) and which, according to its observations, it would be able to hit the American continent. The demonstration comes as South Korea and the United States prepare to conduct a joint exercise. Pyongyang had threatened to undertake an "unprecedented" response to joint exercises between the United States and South Korea scheduled for next week in Washington, in which the two allied countries would like to sharpen their response to Korea's potential use of nuclear weapons of the North.

Promise kept because today a ballistic missile was launched by North Korea about 200 kilometers off the coast of Hokkaido within Japan's exclusive economic zone. The Tokyo government made it known. The United States "strongly" condemns North Korea's ICBM test which represents "a flagrant violation of multiple United Nations Security Council resolutions". This was reported in a note from the White House. "The United States will take all necessary measures to ensure the security of American territories, South Korea and Japan."

Flight time was estimated at over an hour. According to initial assessments it is a powerful and long-range weapon, launched on an upward trajectory to avoid flying over neighboring countries, according to Japan. After an intense activity of missile launches during 2022, since the beginning of this year there had been only one in the early hours of New Year's Eve. Today's speech therefore seems to be a warning to Pyongyang's two rival allies.