North Korea launches eight ballistic missiles

After three days of joint military exercises between the American and South Korean armies, North Korea fired eight ballistic missiles into the waters off its eastern coast Sunday, June 5.

North Korea launches eight ballistic missiles

After three days of joint military exercises between the American and South Korean armies, North Korea fired eight ballistic missiles into the waters off its eastern coast Sunday, June 5.

The South Korean general staff stated that eight short-range missiles were launched from Pyongyang's Sunan sector towards the East Sea. Japan.

The launches occurred in a matter of 30 minutes. According to the general staff, the missiles covered 110- 670 km at various altitudes with the highest reaching 90km. Nobuo Kishi, the Japanese Minister for Defense, reacted by saying that multiple launches were "unusual" but "totally unacceptable".

North Korea is subject to severe UN sanctions for its nuclear weapons and missile programs.

The new firings follow three days of large-scale exercises between the American and South Korean armies.

These were the first joint maneuvers of the two countries since Yoon Suk-yel, the new South Korean President, was inaugurated in May. It also marked the first time that a door-plane had been involved since November 2017.

This type of exercise is considered a rehearsal for invasion by North Korea and has been protested since the beginning.

The South Korean military released a statement saying that the exercise "reaffirmed both countries' resolves to respond with severity to any North Korean provocations, while demonstrating America's commitment to extensive deterrence." .

Analysts believe Sunday's missile attack, which is adding to the roughly 20 weapons tests that Pyongyang has conducted since the beginning of the year, sends a clear signal to Washington and Seoul.

Cheong Seong-jang (researcher at the Sejong Institute) stated that this shows North Korea's intent to neutralize South Korea's missile defense system and attack the United States with multiple simultaneous strikes in case of war.

Last month, at a summit in Seoul, Joe Biden, the US President, assured Yoon Sukyel that Washington would use "strategic measures" to stop North Korea attacking its neighbor.

Just hours after Joe Biden left the region, Kim Jong Un tested three missiles. One of them was a Hwasong-17 that was presented by his regime as its most powerful intercontinental missile.

Washington and Seoul have warned Pyongyang for weeks about a possible seventh nuclear test. This would be the first since 2017.

New satellite images reveal that North Korea has begun construction on a long-dormant nuclear reactor after being severely affected by the Covid-19 epidemic. According to the South Korean presidency Pyongyang performed tests on a detonation device before this test.

Kim Jong-un had stopped long-range and nuclear missile testing by the time he tried to hold talks with Donald Trump. Talks fell apart in 2019. North Korea broke the moratorium it had imposed by firing an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), at the end March.

Analysts think Kim Jong-un might be speeding up his nuclear testing plans in order to distract the coronavirus-affected North Korean population.

According to official statistics, Saturday June 4 was the country's fourth day of operation. This is a total of 4,000,000 cases for a population 25 million people.