DPRK fires salvo of missiles hours after Biden leaves Asia
SEOUL — The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea on Wednesday fired three missiles, including one thought to be an intercontinental ballistic missile, said the Republic of Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, just a day after US President Joe Biden wrapped up his Asia tour to the ROK and Japan.
The Joint Chiefs of Staff said the three missiles were fired in less than an hour from the Sunan area of the DPRK capital Pyongyang.
The first missile launched on Wednesday appeared to be an ICBM, while a second unidentified missile appears to have failed midflight, it said, adding that the third missile was a short-range ballistic missile.
In response, the United States and the ROK held combined live fire drills, including surface-to-surface missile tests involving the US’ Army Tactical Missile System and the ROK’s Hyunmoo-2 SRBM.
The DPRK’s test launches came just a day after Biden left Asia following the trip in which he agreed to new measures to deter Pyongyang.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said on Wednesday that upholding peace and
stability on the Korean Peninsula and advancing the political settlement process of the peninsula issue serve the common interests of the international community.
“We hope relevant sides can exercise restraint, stick to the general direction of political settlement, and resume meaningful dialogue at an early date to explore a way to
address the concerns of all parties in a balanced manner,” he told a news conference in Beijing.
US and ROK officials had recently warned that the DPRK appeared ready for another weapons test, possibly during Biden’s visit, which was his first trip to Asia as US president and included a summit with ROK President Yoon Suk-yeol in Seoul.
Yoon, who took office on May 10, convened his first meeting of the national security council, which strongly condemned the DPRK’s latest launch as a “grave provocation”, especially as it came before Biden returned home.
The ROK’s Foreign Minister Park Jin consulted with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken over the phone about the DPRK’s missile launches.
In Seoul over the weekend, Biden and Yoon agreed to hold bigger drills and deploy more US strategic assets if necessary to deter Pyongyang’s weapons tests.
Yoon ordered his aides on Wednesday to strengthen the US’ extended deterrence and combined defense posture as agreed with Biden.
A White House official said Biden, who departed Japan on Tuesday evening, had been briefed on the launches and would continue to receive updates.
Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said Pyongyang could take “more provocative actions including a nuclear test”, Reuters reported.