N Korea fires two ‘ballistic missiles’
S Korea slams timing
SEOUL: North Korea fired what appeared to be two short-range ballistic missiles off its east coast on Saturday, the latest in a series of such launches by Pyongyang as the world struggles with the coronavirus pandemic.
The South Korean military condemned the launches as “extremely inappropriate given the difficult situation the world is experiencing due to COVID-19... We urge them to stop immediately.” Japan’s defence ministry also confirmed the North Korean launches.
For decades, North Korea’s leadership has faced international criticism for prioritising spending on its military and nuclear weapons programme instead of providing for the population - even during times of famine. Pyongyang considers its military development necessary for security in the face of what it describes as American aggression. North Korea is under multiple sets of punishing sanctions over its nuclear and missile programmes.
Hopes for a thaw after meetings between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and US President Donald Trump were dented as they failed to produce any substantial progress on denuclearising the Korean peninsula, and Pyongyang has since continued to refine its military capabilities, analysts say.
With the latest launch Pyongyang “continues an international strategy of trying to normalise its missile tests”, Leiferic Easley, a professor at Ewha University in Seoul, told AFP.
Shortly before the launch, North Korea’s official news agency KCNA reported that the rubber-stamp parliament, the Supreme People’s Assembly, would convene on April 10.
The event would involve gathering nearly 700 officials in one place, analysts said. Such events have been banned in many parts of the world to curb the spread of the coronavirus.