N. Korea missile firing seen as test for South
SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea fired a short-range missile into the sea Tuesday even as its U.N. diplomat was decrying Washington’s “hostile policy” against it, in an apparent return to its pattern of mixing weapons displays with peace overtures to wrest concessions.
The launch, its third round of weapons firings this month, took place only three days after North Korea repeated its offer for conditional talks with South Korea. Some experts say the latest launch likely was meant to test how South Korea would respond, as North Korea needs Seoul to persuade Washington to ease economic sanctions and make other concessions.
At nearly the same time as the launch, North Korean Ambassador Kim Song used his speech on the last day of the U.N. General Assembly’s annual high-level meeting to justify his country’s development of a “war deterrent” to defend itself against U.S. threats.
“The possible outbreak of a new war on the Korean Peninsula is contained not because of the U.S.’ mercy on the DPRK [Democratic People’s Republic of Korea], it is because our state is growing a reliable deterrent that can control the hostile forces in an attempted military invasion,” Kim said.
In an emergency National Security Council meeting, the South Korean government expressed regret over what it called “a short-range missile launch” by the North. South Korea’s military earlier said that the object fired from North Korea’s mountainous northern Jagang province flew toward the waters off the North’s eastern coast. Details were being analyzed.
The U.S. Indo-Pacific Command said the launch didn’t pose an immediate threat but highlighted “the destabilizing impact of [North Korea’s] illicit weapons program.” Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said North Korea fired “what could be a ballistic missile” and that his government stepped up its vigilance and surveillance.
A ballistic missile launch would violate a U.N. Security Council ban on North Korean ballistic activities, but the council typically doesn’t impose new sanctions on North Korea for launches of short-range weapons.
The launch took place after Kim Yo Jong, the influential sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, reached out to Seoul both Friday and Saturday, saying her country was open to resuming talks and taking reconciliatory steps if conditions were met. She criticized Seoul for calling Pyongyang’s previous missile tests a provocation and demanded it abandon “unfair double-dealing standards” and “hostile policies.”
Tuesday’s launch “was like testing the South Korean government to see if it would impose a double standard and call it a provocation,” said analyst Shin Beomchul with the Seoulbased Korea Research Institute for National Strategy. He said North Korea’s status as a nuclear state would be solidified if South Korea and others fail to respond strongly.
Kim Dong-yub, a professor at the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul, said North Korea may have tested a new missile such as a hypersonic glide vehicle that was among an array of high-tech weapons Kim Jong Un has vowed to procure.
South Korea has called Kim Yo Jong’s openness to talks “meaningful” but urged North Korea to restore communication channels before any talks between the rivals can be arranged.