Pyongyang fires missiles over US drills
SEOUL: North Korea continued to ramp up its weapons demonstrations by firing two presumed short-range ballistic missiles into the sea yesterday while lashing out at the United States and South Korea for continuing military exercises that the North says could derail fragile nuclear diplomacy.
South Korea’s military alerted reporters to the launches minutes before the North’s Foreign Ministry denounced Washington and Seoul over the start of their joint exercises on Monday. The ministry’s statement said the drills, which North Korea sees as an invasion rehearsal, leave the country “compelled to develop, test and deploy the powerful physical means essential for national defence”.
The statement from an unidentified spokesperson said Pyongyang remains committed to dialogue, but it could seek a “new road” if the allies don’t change their positions.
“We remain unchanged in our stand to resolve the issues through dialogue,” said the statement. “But the dynamics of dialogue will be more invisible as long as the hostile military moves continue.”
Seoul’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said the two projectiles were launched early yesterday from an area near the North’s western coast, and travelled about 450 kilometres at a maximum speed of above Mach 6.9 before landing in waters off the country’s eastern coast, the JCS said.
It said the projectiles showed similar flight characteristics to short-range missiles North Korea fired on July 25, which travelled about 600km during launches the North described a “solemn warning” to South Korea over its plans to continue military drills with the US.
South Korea’s military had said the flight data of the July missiles showed similarities to the Russian-made Iskander — a solid-fuel, nuclear capable missile that is highly maneouverable and travels on lower trajectories compared to conventional ballistic weapons, improving its chances of evading missile defence systems. The North last week also conducted two test firings of a new multiple rocket launcher system.
Choi Hyun-soo, spokeswoman of South Korea’s Defence Ministry, said the North’s launches go against the spirit of a bilateral military agreement reached last year to reduce tensions.