Two days after threatening “shocking” repercussions to protest what it deemed to be provocative U.S. surveillance activity near its territory, North Korea launched a long-range ballistic missile Wednesday, according to reports from its neighbours. The missile was aimed for its eastern waters.
The launch of a long-range missile from the North’s capital region was discovered by the military of South Korea around ten in the morning, according to a statement from the South’s Joint Chiefs of Staff. Yasukazu Hamada, the defence minister of Japan, told reporters that the North Korean missile was probably launched on a lofted trajectory, which is a steep angle North Korea frequently employs when it tests long-range missiles to avoid its neighbours.
The North Korean government earlier this week issued a number of remarks in which it accused the United States of flying a military jet close to North Korea in order to spy on it. Wednesday’s launch, the North’s first in over a month, followed those statements. The United States and South Korea rejected the North’s charges and pleaded with it to stop any actions or words that incited hostility.
Earlier, Kim Yo Jong added that the U.S. military would face “a very critical flight” if it does not stop illegal aerial spying activities.
“Kim Yo-jong’s bellicose statement against U.S. surveillance aircraft is part of a North Korean pattern of inflating external threats to rally domestic support and justify weapons tests,” mentioned Leif-Eric Easley, professor at Ewha University in Seoul. “Pyongyang also times its shows of force to disrupt what it perceives as diplomatic coordination against it, in this case, South Korea and Japan’s leaders meeting during the NATO summit.”
