People watch a television screen showing a news broadcast with file footage of a North Korean missile test at a train station in Seoul on 1 July 2024. (Jung Yeon-je / AFP)
- North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles,
with one failing shortly after launch, a day after condemning South Korea’s
major joint military exercises with the US and Japan. - The launches follow accusations against North Korea for
supplying weapons to Russia for use in the Ukraine conflict. - Relations between North and South Korea have
deteriorated, with the North intensifying weapons tests and propaganda efforts,
while South Korea suspended a military treaty and resumed propaganda broadcasts
and live-fire drills.
North Korea
fired two short-range ballistic missiles, but one launch failed, South Korea’s
military said Monday, a day after Pyongyang warned of “fatal
consequences” following major joint exercises in the South.
South
Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said the military had detected two launches, the
first at 5:05 (2005 GMT) and the second around 10 minutes later.
“The
short-range ballistic missile launched at around 05:05 flew approximately 600
km,” it said, adding the second one travelled 120 km.
JCS
spokesperson Lee Sung-jun said the second missile appeared to fly abnormally in
an early stage of flight, adding that if it had exploded in mid-air, its
trajectory indicates debris could have landed over North Korea.
Seoul’s
military has “strengthened surveillance and vigilance in preparation for
further launches”, JCS said in a statement.
READ | Russia vows retaliation against US for Ukrainian attack on Crimea with US-supplied missiles
North Korea
is accused of breaching arms control measures by supplying weapons to Russia to
use in its war in Ukraine, and Russian President Vladimir Putin held a summit
with leader Kim Jong Un in Pyongyang in June in a show of unity.
The JCS’s
Lee declined to comment when asked whether the North’s latest launch could have
been a test of missiles intended for delivery to Russia.
The launch
also comes after Pyongyang on Sunday denounced joint military exercises by
South Korea, Japan and the United States, calling them an “Asian version
of NATO” and warning of “fatal consequences”.
The
three-day “Freedom Edge” drills, which ran from Thursday to Saturday
last week, included preparation in ballistic missile and air defences,
anti-submarine warfare and defensive cyber training.
They also
involved Washington’s nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt,
Tokyo’s guided-missile destroyer JS Atago and Seoul’s KF-16 fighter jet.
Pyongyang
has always decried similar combined exercises as rehearsals for an invasion,
but Seoul defended the latest exercises, saying they were a continuation of
defensive drills held regularly for years.
Testing, testing
Last week,
North Korea claimed to have successfully tested a multiple warhead missile, but
the South said that launch ended in a mid-air explosion.
Relations
between the two Koreas are at one of their lowest points in years, with the
North ramping up weapons testing while bombarding the South with balloons full
of trash.
Pyongyang
says those missives are in retaliation for balloons loaded with anti-regime
propaganda leaflets sent northwards by activists in the South.
In response
to the North’s repeated launches, South Korea has fully suspended a
tension-reducing military treaty. It also briefly resumed propaganda
loudspeaker broadcasts, and conducted live-fire drills near the border.
North Korea
is also currently holding a major party meeting, which was opened by leader
Kim, state media said Saturday.
“In
both North Korean politics and military policy, the best defence is often a
good offence,” said Leif-Eric Easley, a professor at Ewha University in
Seoul.
“These
missile launches are likely the Kim regime’s way of compensating for recent
failed tests, aiming to impress a domestic audience during ruling party
meetings.”
“Pyongyang
is also determined not to appear weak while South Korea conducts defence
exercises with Japan and the United States.”
