A nuclear-powered US aircraft carrier and its battle group began exercises with South Korean warships on Monday, hours after North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles in an apparent protest of the allies’ expanding drills.
The seventh missile test this month underscored heightening tensions in the region as both the North’s weapons tests and the US-South Korea joint military exercises have intensified in a cycle of tit-for-tat. The launches may have been timed for the arrival of the USS Nimitz and its strike group, including a guided missile cruiser and two destroyers, which engaged in air defense exercises and other drills with South Korean warships in waters near Jeju island.
Jang Do Young, a South Korean navy spokesperson, said the drills were aimed at sharpening joint operational capabilities and demonstrating the U.S. commitment to defend its ally with the full range of options, including nuclear, in face of the North’s “escalating nuclear and missile threats.” The Nimitz strike group was expected to arrive in the South Korean mainland port of Busan on Tuesday.
South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said the two North Korean missiles were fired from a western inland area south of the North’s capital of Pyongyang from around 7:47 am to 8 am and travelled around 370 kilometers (229 miles) before landing at sea. Japan’s military said the missiles, which landed outside Japan’s exclusive economic zone, flew on an irregular trajectory and reached a maximum altitude of 50 kilometers (31 miles).
Japan has previously used similar language to describe a North Korean solid-fuel missile apparently modelled after Russia’s Iskander mobile ballistic system, which is designed to be maneuverable in low-altitude flight to better evade South Korean missile defences. North Korea also has another short-range system with similar characteristics that resembles the US MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile System.
Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said North Korea may dial up its testing activity further with more missile launches or even conducting its first nuclear test since September 2017. The South Korean and Japanese militaries denounced the latest launches as a serious provocation threatening regional peace and said they were working with the United States to analyze the missiles further.