Seoul, South Korea — SEOUL, South Korea (AP) – north korea Several short-range launches were made ballistic missiles Seaward on Sunday, its neighbors said, the U.N. nuclear watchdog warned that North Korea was making “very serious” progress in efforts to build nuclear weapons.
South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said the missiles fired from the North’s Sinpo area flew about 140 kilometers (87 miles) toward the country’s eastern waters. It said South Korea stands ready to thwart any provocation by North Korea and is closely exchanging information with the US and Japan.
At an emergency meeting of the National Security Council, senior South Korean officials expressed concern over North Korea’s repeated ballistic missile tests and urged them to immediately stop them. Sunday’s launches came hours before South Korean President Lee Jae Myung left the country to visit India and Vietnam.
The US and Japanese militaries also said they had detected launches. US Indo-Pacific Command Said he is committed to defending the US homeland and its allies in the region. Japan’s Defense Ministry said Tokyo strongly protested to Pyongyang, saying the launch was a threat to regional and international peace and a violation of UN Security Council resolutions that ban any ballistic activities by North Korea.
Sinpo, the launch site, is an eastern coastal city in North Korea where a major shipyard is used to build Submarines.
According to South Korean media, South Korea’s military was analyzing whether the latest launches were conducted from submarines, land-based launchers or both platforms. Asked where the missiles were launched from, Japan’s Deputy Defense Minister Masahisa Miyazaki told reporters that Japan was analyzing the launch details in coordination with the US and South Korea.
If launches are included a submarine, It would be North Korea’s first submarine-launched ballistic missile test in four years.
North Korea acquiring greater capability to launch missiles from underwater would be a worrying development as such launches are difficult for its adversaries to detect in advance. Last year North Korea unveiled a nuclear powered submarine Under construction for the first time.
Sunday’s launches were the latest in North Korea’s weapons tests this year.
Last week North Korea said Leader Kim Jong Un monitored missile tests From the destroyer of the country. In the past week, North Korea said it had three days of testing activities to test armed ballistic missiles cluster-bomb warheads and other new weapons systems. Last month, she said she had taken a test Advanced Solid-Fuel Engine For missiles capable of reaching the American mainland.
Kim has focused on increasing his nuclear and missile arsenal since his big move nuclear diplomacy US President Donald Trump fell in 2019. Trump has repeatedly expressed a desire to resume diplomacy with Kim, and the North Korean leader has recently left it open. Doors open for talks with Trump But it urged Washington to drop its demand for the North’s denuclearization as a precondition for talks.
Trump to visit Beijing rescheduled summit With Xi Jinping in May. Some observers say North Korea’s recent testing activities were intended to increase its influence in future deals with the US, as the Trump-Xi meeting could provide a diplomatic opening with Pyongyang.
On Wednesday, the Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency… rafael grossi He said his agency had confirmed a “rapid increase” in activity at nuclear manufacturing facilities in North Korea. Grossi told reporters in Seoul that North Korea’s activities point to a “very serious increase” in its nuclear weapons production capabilities.
His comments echo the view of many outside observers that North Korea has taken steps to expand its main Yongbyon nuclear complex and build additional uranium enrichment site In recent years. Last September, South Korean Unification Minister Chung Dong-young said that North Korea was taking action four uranium enrichment facilities And they were running every day.
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Yamaguchi reported from Tokyo.
