North Korea today carried out test launches of several ballistic missiles, the latest in a series of exercises carried out in recent weeks, the South Korean army announced.
“Our armed forces detected several unidentified ballistic missiles launched towards the East Sea from the Sinpo region of North Korea at around 06:10 local time. [22:10 em Lisboa]”, indicated the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff, referring to the maritime zone also known as the Sea of Japan.
“We have reinforced our surveillance and alert system in anticipation of possible additional shots,” he added.
Hours earlier, the South Korean news agency Yonhap had reported the test launch of at least one ballistic missile.
The launch brings to six the number of known ballistic missile tests by North Korea since the beginning of the year. On April 14, North Korean state media reported a cruise missile test from a destroyer in the Yellow Sea in the presence of leader Kim Jong-un.
These latest tests come as North Korea continues to ignore gestures from center-left South Korean President Lee Jae-myung to try to improve relations, which deteriorated under the rule of right-wing predecessor Yoon Suk-yeol.
Seoul expressed regret after the incursion of civilian drones into North Korea in January, a gesture initially described as “very happy and sensible behavior” by Kim Yo-jong, the North Korean leader’s powerful sister. However, a senior North Korean official later described South Korea in April as “the most hostile enemy state” to Pyongyang.
North Korea considers its nuclear weapons and ballistic missile program as life insurance against the invasion intentions it attributes to South Korea and the United States.
On Wednesday, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Grossi, referred to a “very worrying increase” in North Korea’s nuclear capabilities, which he estimated at “a few dozen warheads”.
