Short-range missiles fired

SEOUL: North Korea test-fired two short-range ballistic missiles in another show of force yesterday, a day after the United States and South Korea began military drills that Pyongyang views as an invasion rehearsal.

The missiles launched from the southwestern coastal town of Jangyon flew across North Korea before landing in the sea off that country’s east coast, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement. It said both missiles travelled about 620km.

The reported flight distances suggest the missiles target South Korea, which hosts about 28,000 US troops. South Korea’s military called the launches “a grave provocation” that undermines stability on the Korean Peninsula.

The US Indo-Pacific Command said yesterday’s launches did not pose an immediate threat to its allies. But it said the North’s recent tests highlight the “destabilising impact” of the North’s unlawful weapons programmes and that the US security commitment to South Korea and Japan remains “ironclad”.

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida told reporters that officials were still gathering details of the North Korean launches and there has been no immediate reports of damage in Japanese waters.

Pyongyang could further escalate its weapons tests over the coming days in a tit-for-tat response to the military drills, which are planned to run until March 23.

Last week North Korean leader Kim Jong-un ordered his troops to be ready to repel what he called the “frantic war preparations moves” by his country’s rivals.

Worries about North Korea’s nuclear programme have grown sharply after the North last year test-fired more than 70 missiles, many of them nuclear-capable weapons, and openly threatened to use them in potential conflicts with the United States and South Korea.

North Korea appears to be using long-stalled talks with the United States and the expanding US-South Korean drills as a chance to enlarge its weapons arsenal to increase its leverage in future dealings with the United States.

The North Korean threats, along with China’s increasing assertiveness, have pushed the United States to seek to reinforce its alliances with South Korea and Japan.

But some experts say a solidified Washington-Seoul-Tokyo cooperation could prompt Pyongyang, Beijing and Moscow to strengthen their own trilateral ties.

China and Russia, embroiled in separate confrontations with the United States, have repeatedly blocked US and its allies’ bids to toughen UN sanctions on North Korea.

Yesterday’s launches were the North’s second weapons test this week.

On Monday, North Korea said it had test-fired two cruise missiles from a submarine the previous day. It implied the cruise missiles were being developed to carry nuclear warheads, though outside experts debate whether North Korea possesses functioning nuclear-armed missiles.

North Korea acquiring submarine-launched missile systems would be an alarming development because launches would be harder to detect and would provide the North retaliatory second attack capability.

However, experts say it would take years, extensive resources and major technological improvements for the heavily sanctioned nation to build a fleet of submarines that could travel quietly and reliably execute strikes. — AP