GA week after the last launch, North Korea fired another potentially nuclear-capable missile, according to its neighbor South Korea. The ballistic missile flew in the direction of the Sea of Japan (Korean: East Sea), the South Korean news agency Yonhap reported, citing the military. No further details were initially given. Most recently, North Korea tested a potentially nuclear-capable missile on November 9th.
UN resolutions ban North Korea, a self-declared nuclear power, from testing ballistic missiles of any range that can be armed with a nuclear warhead. Recently, tensions on the Korean peninsula had increased significantly. Since the beginning of the year, there have already been more than 50 North Korean missile tests – in early November alone, South Korea’s military recorded more than 25, including an ICBM.
The recent missile tests have also been seen as a response to joint maneuvers by South Korean and US forces. North Korea regularly accuses the United States of preparing an attack through its maneuvers with South Korea, which both countries deny.
Pyongyang threatens tightened reactions
Shortly before, North Korea had announced “stronger military responses” to efforts by the United States and its allies to expand their military presence for security in the region. “The US will be aware that they are playing a game they will surely regret,” North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son Hu said in a statement released by the official KCNA news agency. The recent joint military exercises by the United States, South Korea and Japan failed to rein in the North, but rather exacerbated the security crisis. Such steps would result in “tighter countermeasures”. She criticized the recent trilateral summit meeting between the heads of state and government of the three countries. At the meeting, the United States, South Korea and Japan condemned the government’s weapons tests in Pyongyang and agreed to cooperate more closely on security issues.
