North Korea, which has declared itself a nuclear power, has launched several ballistic missiles in the past two weeks.
North Korea continued its series of missile tests. On 6 October Pyongyang launched two short-range ballistic missiles towards the Sea of Japan. One of the rockets flew 350 kilometers at a maximum altitude of 80 kilometers, the second – 800 kilometers at a maximum altitude of 60 kilometers.
The missile launch on Thursday came about an hour after North Korea condemned the United States in connection with its appeal to the UN Security Council, Reuters reports. Pyongyang said it considers the missile launch a “fair” measure to thwart joint exercises between the United States and South Korea, believing their maneuvers are increasing tensions in the region.
North Korea also condemned the United States for relocating the USS Ronald Reagan aircraft carrier to the east coast of the Korean peninsula. Previously, the ship arrived in South Korea for the first time in four years and took part in joint naval maneuvers of South Korean and American troops. The aircraft carrier is expected to be involved in South Korea and Japan exercises in international waters.
The South Korean army called the latest missile launch a “serious provocation” and said it “threatens not only peace and stability on the Korean peninsula, but also the international community”. Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida called North Korea’s repeated missile launches in a short period of time “completely unacceptable”.
This launch is the sixth in the past two weeks since North Korea declared itself a nuclear power. On 4 October, North Korea launched an ICBM that traveled approximately 4,500 kilometers above Japan and fell into the Pacific Ocean. About this in detail in the material nuclear provocation.
In response, the United States and South Korea conducted military exercises, including two test launches of surface-to-surface missiles each. American and South Korean ATACMS missiles were directed towards the Sea of Japan.
US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said that if North Korea continues “to follow the chosen path”, then “it will only increase the condemnation, the isolation and the measures taken in response to their actions”.
Following North Korea’s latest ballistic missile launches, the United States has sent an aircraft carrier strike group into the waters off the Korean Peninsula. Korrespondent.net received the reaction of the international press.
Can North Korean missiles reach the continental United States?
Wall Street Journal, США
The Hwaseong-15 missile has the potential to strike anywhere in the United States, according to a U.S. Army assessment in Korea … Missile experts estimate its range at 8,100 miles and say a North Korean ICBM could hit the mainland of the United States in less than 30 minutes after launch. Pyongyang is located more than five thousand miles from the west coast of the United States.
In January 2021, Kim set a goal of increasing range to around 9.3k miles. Large-scale tests of ICBMs in March 2022 showed such potential scope …
North Korea has a diverse arsenal of ballistic missiles. The vast majority of North Korea’s tests in recent years have been aimed at upgrading short-range missiles, many of which could go nuclear, weapons experts say. Pyongyang has claimed success in launching missiles from submarines and trains, as well as the ability to maneuver missiles to evade US or South Korean air defenses.
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Many of the recently introduced rockets are solid fuel rather than liquid, making the weapon more mobile and often faster to deploy.
But ICBMs currently rely on liquid propellants, which means they must be accompanied by a convoy of vehicles for transportation and refueling prior to launch, making them easier to detect and potentially intercept.
According to the US intelligence community’s annual threat assessment released in March, North Korea remains “a disruptive player on the regional and global arena.”
Don’t underestimate the danger
Polityka, Poland
It has already happened that the North escalated, threatened a war, used bombs and missiles, and then “heroically” prevented a global conflict and began to present its requests in an ingratiating way … Now the circumstances are such that, due to the blockade of Russia the UN, there are no new sanctions can not be imposed …
Demonstrative military maneuvers are possible, such as US Air Force or South Korean flyovers near the DPRK borders. But now the game is getting more dangerous. Mistakes can easily happen, including misinterpreting the opponent’s moves, which can have dire consequences. Under such conditions, blackmail can become a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Kim Jong Un felt stronger than ever
Germany, Deutschlandfunk
The dictator Kim [продолжает] shamelessly arming itself with nuclear weapons and missiles to directly threaten the US mainland. The expectation that, after Pakistan, the United States will recognize North Korea as a nuclear power and lift UN sanctions.
Kim may not be afraid of new sanctions: China and Russia will block such decisions in the UN Security Council. Their presidents, Xi and Putin, gleefully watch the United States, Japan and South Korea fail to counter this North Korean strategy.
Russian nuclear attack. How will the US and NATO respond?
The allies absolutely do not need a hot war on the Korean peninsula. So they have no choice but to let Kim helplessly do what he wants.
North Korea tries to legalize missile launches
Washington Post, United States
North Korea’s consistent and persistent claims that its missile launches are in response to joint US-South Korea exercises are part of North Korea’s long-term strategy to equate their illegal provocations with joint Washington-Seoul military exercises , said Go Myung-hyun. at the Asan Institute for Policy Studies in Seoul.
Guo added that the North Korean Foreign Ministry statement on Thursday “corresponds exactly to a message designed to convey the idea that drills and provocations are equivalent, when in fact they are not.”
It is necessary to respond with sanctions and intimidation
Times, Great Britain
An example here are the harsh sanctions that managed to force Iran to sit at the negotiating table in 2015. At the same time, the Biden administration is expected to continue military exercises with its allies in the region and provide these allies with effective support.
A containment strategy is a long-term strategy with no guarantee of success. But the basic premise of a peaceful world order is to prevent the aggressor from being misjudged and to punish any violation of international agreements. This is the only reasonable position towards the Pyongyang totalitarian regime, which is still on the lookout for quarrels.
White card for Kim
Le Monde, France
Pyongyang is also doing its best not to provoke China, its traditional partner. In a letter to Chinese President Xi Jinping on the occasion of the 73rd anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China on October 1, Kim Jong-un called relations with Beijing “an invincible friendship”.
Putin threatens with nuclear weapons. Will it apply it?
In this context, it seems extremely unlikely that Moscow and Beijing will vote for sanctions against Pyongyang in the UN Security Council. This gives North Korea carte blanche to continue developing nuclear weapons and missiles.
The North Korean threat brings the United States, Japan and South Korea closer together
Japan Times, Japan
While Pyongyang has traditionally sought to create a wedge between Washington, Tokyo and Seoul, its bellicose rhetoric and numerous provocations could have the opposite effect.
North Korea’s weapons tests are bringing the United States and its key Asian allies closer, as Japan and South Korea have put aside long-standing political differences – at least for now – to focus on mutual security interests.
“After several years without communication due to political differences, the Japanese-Korean defense relations have increasingly followed a convergent trajectory since the inauguration of South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol in May,” said John Bradford, military expert and former director. national team for Japan in the office of the United States Secretary of Defense.
