North Korea fired three ballistic missiles toward the sea on May 25, South Korea’s military said, with North Korea firing its first weapon in nearly two weeks as the country makes a much-disputed claim that its first domestic COVID-19 outbreak is weakening. Is.
The latest launches also come after the leaders of South Korea and the United States agreed to consider expanded military exercises to deter North Korean nuclear threats during President Joe Biden’s visit to Seoul last weekend.
South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement that the three missiles were fired one after the other between 6 a.m. and 7 a.m. Wednesday toward the east coast of North Korea.
It said South Korea has since increased its surveillance posture and maintains military preparedness in close coordination with the United States. His office said South Korean President Yoon Suk-yol called a separate National Security Council meeting to discuss the North’s launches.
The launch was the 17th round of North Korea’s missile firing this year. Experts have said North Korea’s test is aimed at modernizing its weapons arsenal and putting pressure on its rivals amid long-dormant nuclear diplomacy.
North Korea’s unusual pace of weapons tests this year includes the first test of an intercontinental ballistic missile since 2017 in March. US and South Korean intelligence officials say North Korea may soon conduct its first nuclear test in nearly five years.
Visiting South Korea, Mr. Biden dismissed questions about any possible provocation by North Korea during his visit, saying, “We stand ready for whatever North Korea does.” Asked if he had a message for North’s leader Kim Jong-un, Mr Biden offered a clipped response: “Hello. period.”
Following his visit to Seoul, Mr. Biden traveled to Japan and met with Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio, where the leaders vowed to work together to address security challenges, including North Korea’s nuclear and ballistic programs, and which they called for. China’s “rapid coercion”. behavior in the field.
Hours before North Korea’s missile launch, US State Department spokesman Ned Price told reporters in Washington that North Korea could be on the verge of a major weapons test. “Our concern for another possible provocation, be it an ICBM launch, a possible seventh nuclear weapons test, has in no way diminished our concern,” he said.
North Korea’s last missile test came hours after the country acknowledged an outbreak of COVID-19 on its soil on May 12, following a widely disputed claim that it was coronavirus-free.
The country has said over the past few days that there has been a “positive sign” in its anti-virus campaign. Some observers predicted that North Korea would soon resume its missile tests. Since its admission of the highly contagious Omicron version of the outbreak, North Korea has reported only how many people have fevers per day and has identified a fraction of the cases as COVID-19, while adding that a Unknown fever has been spreading across the country of late. april.
On Wednesday, North Korea’s state media said 1,15,970 more people were sickened by an unknown fever in the past 24-hour period, but there were no additional deaths. It said a total of about 3 million people have shown symptoms of fever, but only 68 of them have died since late April, a death rate extremely low if the disease COVID-19 is suspected.
North Korea has limited testing capacity for so many sick people, but some experts say it is underestimating the death rate to save Mr Kim from political damage.