North Korea fired a short-range ballistic missile towards the sea off its west coast on Thursday, the South Korean military said, a few days before joint military exercises between Seoul and Washington.
"The launch of a short-range ballistic missile from the port city of Nampo was detected at 0620 (0920 GMT)," the South Korean general staff said.
Earlier this week, North Korea accused the United States of "intentionally" stoking tensions, and Kim Yo Jong, the powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, warned that if the United States intercepted one of Pyongyang's missile tests, it would be seen as a "declaration of war".
Relations between Pyongyang and Seoul are at their lowest in decades. Nuclear-armed North Korea is testing increasingly provocative banned weapons, while South Korea has decided to intensify security cooperation with Washington in response to these tests.
"Our military continues to stand ready for any eventuality and is cooperating closely with the United States as we have strengthened our surveillance," the South Korean general staff said, adding that it is studying the possibility that North Korea has " simultaneously fired several short-range ballistic missiles from the same area".
Last year, Kim Jong Un's regime called its status as a nuclear power "irreversible" and promised to exponentially increase its production of weapons, including tactical nuclear weapons, as states States seek to increase their military capabilities in the region to defend Seoul.
Since the collapse of negotiations between Kim Jung Un and former US President Donald Trump in 2019, diplomatic exchanges have stalled and North Korea has increased its military development.
In response to growing threats from Pyongyang, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol has decided to strengthen diplomatic ties and military cooperation with Tokyo and Washington.
US President Joe Biden will receive President Yoon during a state visit on April 26. The South Korean head of state will also visit Tokyo next week, his cabinet announced.
This month, US and South Korean forces are due to launch their largest joint military exercises in five years.
Ahead of these exercises, dubbed "Freedom Shield" and which will begin on March 13, the allies organized aerial exercises this week in which an American B-52 nuclear-capable bomber took part.
Washington and Seoul say they are defense exercises, but Pyongyang sees them as dress rehearsals for an invasion of its territory or an overthrow of its regime.
"This is probably just the beginning of a series of provocative attempts by North Korea," said Leif-Eric Easley, a professor at Ewha University in Seoul.
"Pyongyang is ready to react aggressively to major defense exercises led by the United States and South Korea, as well as to President Yoon's upcoming summits" with its American and Japanese counterparts, he added.
"The North Korean regime could launch longer-range missiles, attempt to launch a spy satellite, and possibly even conduct a nuclear test," he said.
North Korea presented its missile tests and military exercises as justified countermeasures to joint military exercises conducted by the United States and South Korea.
Last week, Pyongyang called on the United Nations to demand that Seoul and Washington end their joint military maneuvers, saying its nuclear weapons guaranteed the balance of power in the region.
09/03/2023 16:54:43 - Seoul (AFP) © 2023 AFP
