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North Korea defends missile tests

Seoul :This file photo, taken Sept. 25, 2022, shows a news report on a North Korean missile launch being aired on a TV screen at Seoul Station.(Yonhap/IANS)

North Korea stressed on Saturday that its latest missile tests were “regular and self-defence” actions against US military threats, taking issue with a UN aviation agency’s condemnation of its recent ballistic missile firing.

In a statement, North Korea’s National Aviation Administration (NAA) said: “The missile test launch by the DPRK is a regular and planned self-defensive step for defending the country’s security and the regional peace from the US direct military threats that have lasted for more than half a century.”

The DPRK is the acronym for the North’s official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, reports Yonhap News Agency.

The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), a specialised UN agency handling affairs related to international air navigation, formally described the North’s continued launching of ballistic missiles over or near international air routes without prior notice as a serious threat to the safety of civil aviation.

The North, however, claimed its missile testing did not pose any threat or harm to the safety of civilian aviation or neighbouring countries.

It made clear that its missile activities are aimed at countering US military threats and criticized the ICAO’s move.

“We categorically condemns and rejects this as a political provocation of the US and its vassal forces aimed to infringe upon the sovereignty of the DPRK,” the NAA said.

North Korea has ratcheted up tensions on the peninsula with a string of weapons tests, including the firing of an intermediate-range ballistic missile over Japan on Tuesday.

Pyongyang’s missile tests are widely viewed as its protest against joint military exercises by South Korea and the US as the Kim Jong-un regime regarded them as a rehearsal for invasion.

The allies staged large-scale annual combined military drills from late August till early September.

They also staged joint naval exercises involving a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, the USS Ronald Reagan, earlier this week in a show of force against the North’s provocations.

ALSO READ: US accuses China, Russia of protecting N Korea at UN

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North Korea fires ballistic missiles, fourth in a week

The launches came just hours before South Korea was set to hold an event marking the Armed Forces Day with its key military assets on display, reports Asian Lite News

North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles into the East Sea on Saturday, in its fourth such provocation in less than a week, South Korea’s military said.

The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said it detected the launches from the Sunan area in Pyongyang between 6.45 a.m. and 7.03 a.m. and that the missiles flew some 350 km at apogees of around 30 km at top speeds of Mach 6, reports Yonhap News Agency.

The launches came just hours before South Korea was set to hold an event marking the Armed Forces Day with its key military assets on display.

On Friday, the South, the US and Japan staged an anti-submarine warfare exercise in the East Sea.

“The recent series of North Korea’s ballistic missiles is an act of significant provocation that undermines peace not only on the Korean Peninsula, but also in the international community, and a clear breach of UN Security Council resolutions,” the JCS said in a statement.

“Our military will maintain a firm readiness posture while tracking and monitoring related movements in close cooperation with the US in preparation against additional provocations.”

The presidential National Security Council convened a standing committee session and condemned the North’s latest launches.

On Thursday, US Vice President Kamala Harris made a daylong visit to South Korea, during which she met with President Yoon Suk-yeol and toured the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) that divides Korea. (Courtesy Twitter@VP)

The latest launches followed earlier provocations on Sunday, Wednesday and Thursday.

Military authorities have been looking into possibilities that the North’s recent launches might have involved its KN-23, KN-24, the KN-25 super-large multiple rocket launcher or other short-range platforms.

The KN-23 and KN-24 are modeled after Russia’s Iskander ballistic missile and the US’ Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS), respectively.

Both KN-23 and KN-24 missiles are known for “pull-up” maneuvers to avoid interception.

Pyongyang’s test-firing of short-range missiles raised speculation that it has been doubling down on its push to develop tactical nuclear arms.

ALSO READ: Kamala visits DMZ hours after North’s missile tests

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UNSC urged to condemn North Korea’s missile tests

North Korea staged its seventh and last round of missile launch of the year on January 30, reports Asian Lite News

The US and eight other countries have called on the UN Security Council (UNSC) to condemn North Korea’s recent missile tests after the council’s closed meeting apparently failed to take any concrete action against Pyongyang.

Friday’s meeting marked the second attempt by the US and other like-minded countries in just about two weeks to hold North Korea to account for its recent series of missile launches, Yonhap News Agency reported on Saturday.

North Korea staged its seventh and last round of missile launch of the year on January 30.

“The DPRK’s January 30 launch of an intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM) is a significant escalation in the DPRK’s recent violations of multiple Security Council resolutions and seeks to further destabilize the region. We condemn this unlawful action in the strongest terms,” US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield said in a joint statement.

DPRK is the acronym for North Korea’s official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

The statement was signed by the UN representatives from eight other UNSC member countries — Albania, Brazil, Britain, France, Ireland, Japan, Norway and the United Arab Emirates.

They noted the IRBM marked the longest-range test conducted by North Korea since late 2017, also adding Pyongyang has so far fired nine ballistic missiles in the seven rounds of missile tests this year.

“The nine ballistic missiles launched in January is the largest number of launches the DPRK has conducted in a single month in the history of its WMD and ballistic missile programs,” they said in their joint statement.

“We call on all Council members to speak with one voice in condemning these dangerous and unlawful acts,” they added.

North Korea has maintained a self-imposed moratorium on nuclear and long-range missile testing since November 2017 when it last test fired an intercontinental ballistic missile, following its sixth and last nuclear test in September that year.

ALSO READ: Washington urges Pyongyang to join talks after missile test