North Korea is testing an alleged submarine-launched ballistic missile just days before South Korea finds a new leader who has promised to take a hard line against Pyongyang.
Seoul said the rocket was fired early Saturday near the eastern port city of Shinpo, where there is a submarine base in the north.
Japan also confirmed the launch, with Prime Minister Fumio Kishida ordering officials to prepare for all “unforeseen situations” in response.
This comes before the inauguration of the new conservative South Korean President Yun Suk-yol, who promised to strengthen Seoul’s missile capacity and strengthen its military alliance with Washington to deal with the threat from the North.
US President Joe Biden will visit South Korea on May 21.
Earlier in the week, North Korea fired a ballistic missile from its capital offshore off its east coast after Kim Jong Un promised to develop its nuclear arsenal “as fast as possible.”
The latest launch is believed to be North Korea’s 15th round of missile launches this year, including its first intercontinental ballistic missile test in 2017 in March, which demonstrates the potential to reach US targets.
There are also indications that Pyongyang is preparing a site where it conducted its sixth and final nuclear test in September 2017, in view of another possible explosive test.
Leif-Eric Easley, a professor at Ewha University in Seoul, said: “The seventh nuclear test will be the first since September 2017 and will increase tensions on the Korean Peninsula, increasing the dangers of miscalculations and miscommunication between the Kim regime and the incoming administration. Jun. “
Image: Kim Jong Un warns that the North could actively use its nuclear weapons if threatened or provoked
North Korea is using a favorable environment to push for its military ambitions, as the UN Security Council is divided and preoccupied with Russia’s war against Ukraine.
The unusually fast pace of testing underscores the edge, which aims to force the United States to accept the idea of the North as a nuclear power and remove crippling sanctions, experts say.
Mr Kim has used recent missile tests to warn that the North could actively use its nuclear weapons if threatened or provoked, which observers say could portend an escalation doctrine that will heighten fears in South Korea and Japan.
Pyongyang is pushing hard to gain the ability to launch missiles with nuclear weapons from submarines, which in theory would increase its deterrence by guaranteeing the ability to retaliate after a nuclear attack.
Ballistic missile submarines would also add a naval threat to the North’s growing ground arsenal.
However, experts say the heavily-sanctioned country will need more time, resources and technological improvements to build a fleet of submarines capable of evading detection and carrying out strikes.
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