North Korea fires second missile in a week ahead of US-South Korea drills
North Korea on Wednesday, Aug 12 carried out its second ballistic missile test in less than a week, its neighbours said, in a likely protest against upcoming South Korea-US military drills that North Korea views as an invasion rehearsal.
South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said a ballistic missile fired from the North's eastern coastal Wonsan area around 6 am flew more than 700 km. It said South Korea remains ready to repel any provocations by North Korea in cooperation with the United States.
South Korea's presidential national security council issued a statement urging North Korea to stop ballistic missile launches, which it said are "acts of provocation" that defy UN Security Council resolutions.
Multiple UN Security Council resolutions ban North Korea from launching ballistic missiles. But North Korea has ramped up ballistic and other weapons testing activities to expand its nuclear and missile arsenals since Kim's high-stakes diplomacy with US President Donald Trump fell apart in 2019. Experts say Kim likely hopes to use his enlarged arsenals to wrest concessions from the US, such as relaxation of international economic sanctions on the North.
Japan's Defense Ministry said on Wednesday it had also spotted a suspected ballistic missile launch from North Korea, but did not detect the weapon reaching Japan's exclusive economic zone, suggesting it fell further away from the Japanese coast.
The latest launch came two days after South Korea and the United States announced they will begin their annual large-scale military drills on August 17 to strengthen readiness against North Korean threats.
North Korea has previously responded to the Ulchi Freedom Shield training and other major South Korea-US military exercises with provocative weapons tests and harsh rhetoric. The US and South Korea have repeatedly said the training is defensive in nature.
After last year's Ulchi Freedom Shield exercises began, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said the drills showed the US and South Korea's "will to ignite a war" and claimed they had grown more provocative than before, prompting North Korea to respond with "proactive and overwhelming" countermeasures.
On August 6, South Korea, the US and Japan detected the launch of a short-range ballistic missile from North Korea, in what was the North's first ballistic weapons testing activity since late June. North Korea did not confirm the reported launch, though it usually releases details of weapons tests a day later.
In recent years, Kim has boosted his diplomatic footprint by strengthening cooperation with Russia through supplying troops and ammunition to support its war against Ukraine. He has also recently taken steps to bolster ties with China, the country's traditional ally and economic pipeline. Chinese President Xi Jinping visited Pyongyang in June for the first time in seven years.
