Kim Jong-il was the OG rocketman, so it is only fitting that his son would have a missile fired on his anniversary:
North Korea fired one short-range ballistic missile toward the East Sea on Sunday, the 12th anniversary of the death of late leader Kim Jong-il, according to South Korea’s military.
The launch briefly raised speculation that it could be an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) because South Korea’s First Deputy National Security Adviser Kim Tae-hyo said a few days earlier the North could fire an ICBM within this month.
The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said, however, that the North fired a short-range missile from in or around Pyongyang at about 10:38 p.m. and it flew about 570 kilometers before splashing in the East Sea.
Like it has done just about every August in recent memory, the North Koreans are continuing their offensive on the fish in the East Sea:
North Korea has fired two short-range ballistic missiles into the East Sea, South Korea’s military said Thursday, in apparent protest against combined South Korea-U.S. military drills.
The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said it detected the launches from an area in or around Sunan in Pyongyang between around 11:40 p.m. and 11:50 p.m. Wednesday.
The missiles each flew some 360 kilometers before splashing into the waters, the JCS said, with the allies’ intelligence authorities conducting further analysis.
I people are wondering why Japan is growing their military capabilities this is just another example why:
North Korea sent at least two ballistic missiles into Japan’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) in waters off Ishikawa Prefecture on Thursday, the Defense Ministry in Tokyo said, further ramping up tensions after a failed satellite launch last month.
Both missiles splashed down some 250 kilometers northwest of Ishikawa’s Hegura Island, traveling about 850 km and 900 km, respectively, Parliamentary Vice Minister of Defense Kimi Onoda told reporters, adding that there had not been any reports of damage to aircraft or ships.
Onoda called the launches into Japan’s EEZ, which extends 200 nautical miles (370 km) from its coast, “absolutely unacceptable” and “a serious matter concerning the safety of residents of the country.”
The launches were the first to land in Japan’s EEZ since mid-February.
The North Koreans are claiming the launches were in response to joint US and ROK live fire exercises:
The allies ended the fifth and last round of the Combined Joint Live-Fire Exercise, the first of its kind in six years, at the Seungjin Fire Training Field in Pocheon, just 25 kilometers south of the inter-Korean border, on Thursday to mark the 70th anniversary of the bilateral alliance.
More than 610 military assets were mobilized for the drills, including F-35A fighters and K9 self-propelled howitzers from the South Korean side, and F-16 fighter jets and Gray Eagle drones from the U.S. side.
The North’s defense ministry accused the allies of escalating tensions, saying the drills warrant its “inevitable” response.
“Our army strongly denounces the provocative and irresponsible moves of the puppet military authorities escalating the military tension in the region despite its repeated warnings and warns them solemnly,” the spokesperson said in the statement carried by the North’s official Korean Central News Agency.
The Kim regime caused another evacuation order yesterday on the Japanese island of Hokkaido due to their latest missile test:
North Korea on Thursday fired what is believed to be a solid-fuel ballistic missile that landed between the Korean Peninsula and Japan, raising fears of possible technical advancement in its weapons program.
Speaking to reporters, a Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) official said North Korea’s military appears to have fired a new type of intermediate-range ballistic missile ― possibly running on solid fuel.
Solid fuel offers greater mobility for missiles and reduces preparation time before launch, compared with liquid fuel that takes more preparation time requiring activities that could be detected, therefore, giving some time for South Korea and the United States to prepare before launch.
“Given the significance of North Korean founder Kim Il-sung birthday on April 15, North Korea highly likely tested its solid-fuel ballistic missile,” Cheong Seong-chang, a senior analyst at the Sejong Institute think tank, told The Korea Times. “The test would give the regime the opportunity to send its defiant message to Seoul and its allies and to promote it as an accomplishment ahead of the politically important anniversary.”
A solid-propellant intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) is one of the key weapons on the wish list of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, who has been expanding and expressing his nuclear ambition following his fruitless summit with then U.S. President Donald Trump in 2019.
The JCS said the missile was fired at a high angle from its capital area and fell into the East Sea after a 1,000-kilometer flight.
North Korea’s latest provocation prompted Japan to issue an evacuation order on Hokkaido. The warning was retracted later when it became obvious that the missile would not fall near the northeastern Japanese island. The country’s defense ministry said the missile could be an ICBM.
North Korea has continued its war against the fish in the East Sea:
North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles (SRBMs) toward the East Sea on Monday, hours before a U.S. nuclear-powered aircraft carrier staged joint drills in waters south of Jeju Island, according to South Korea’s military.
The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said it detected the launches from the Chunghwa County area in North Hwanghae Province between 7:47 a.m. and 8 a.m. The missiles flew some 370 kilometers before splashing into the sea, it added.
Pyongyang’s latest provocation came as South Korea and the United States kicked off the Ssangyong (double dragon) amphibious landing exercise last week. It is scheduled to end next Monday.
The USS Nimitz aircraft carrier strike group also trained together with the South’s major warships in waters south of the peninsula Monday, according to the Navy here.
North Korea has given Vice President Harris some fireworks to welcome her to Seoul:
North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles (SRBMs) into the East Sea on Wednesday, ratcheting up tensions amid an ongoing South Korea-U.S. naval exercise involving an American aircraft carrier.
The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said it detected the launches from the Sunan area in Pyongyang between 6:10 p.m. and 6:20 p.m., and that the missiles flew some 360 kilometers at apogees of around 30 km at top speeds of about Mach 6.
It did not provide other details, saying the intelligence authorities of South Korea and the United States are conducting a detailed analysis to verify the specifics of the missiles.
The launches came just three days after the North fired off an SRBM into the East Sea (….)
The latest saber-rattling came as U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris plans to visit Seoul on Thursday and the allies’ Navies are staging an exercise featuring the nuclear-powered USS Ronald Reagan carrier in the East Sea.
The U.S. carrier, a centerpiece of America’s naval might, arrived here on Friday for the first allied exercise near the peninsula in five years. The four-day exercise is set to run through Thursday.
North Korea just could not help itself and desperately had to make a headline since Vice President Harris will be in Seoul later this week:
North Korea fired a short-range ballistic missile into the East Sea on Sunday, South Korea’s military said, two days after a nuclear-powered U.S. aircraft carrier arrived here for allied drills.
The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said it detected the launch from an area in or around Taechon, North Pyongan Province, at 6:53 a.m., and that it flew some 600 kilometers at an apogee of around 60 km at a top speed of Mach 5.
The intelligence authorities of the South and the United States are conducting a detailed analysis for other details, the JCS said.
The launch came as U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris plans to visit Seoul later this week and the allies are set to hold a joint maritime exercise in the East Sea, involving the USS Ronald Reagan carrier strike group.
Another capability to disguise and quickly launch ballistic missiles has been confirmed by North Korea. This will just make it more challenging for intelligence analysts to track North Korea’s ballistic missiles:
This photo, released by North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on Sept. 16, 2021, shows a railway-borne missile regiment holding a firing drill a day earlier.
North Korea said Thursday that a railway-borne missile regiment held a firing drill a day earlier, confirming the launches, apparently from a train, of two short-range ballistic missiles into the East Sea.
“The railway-borne missile regiment took part in the drill with a mission to strike the target area 800 kilometers away from its location after moving to the central mountainous area at dawn on September 15,” the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said.
The KCNA said the North accurately struck the target in the East Sea.
I think under the current government I just don’t see the U.S. being able to host ballistic missiles in the ROK:
Marshall Billingslea, special US presidential envoy for arms control, speaks during a press conference in Seoul. (Yonhap)
The United States is not ready yet to talk with allies about deployment of its specific military capabilities, a senior US official said Monday, as Washington is considering deploying intermediate-range missiles in East Asia to counterbalance China’s growing capabilities.
Marshall Billingslea, special US presidential envoy for arms control, also said in an interview with Yonhap News Agency and other local media outlets in Seoul that North Korea’s recent apology for the killing of a South Korean fisheries official is a good first step toward resolving the issue.
Billingslea arrived in Seoul on Sunday for a two-day visit.
The trip came as the US has been considering deploying intermediate-range missiles in Asia to counter China after withdrawing from the 1988 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF) last year amid speculation that South Korea could be one of the candidate sites.
Claiming that China test-fired missiles 225 times last year alone, which is more than the number of launches by all the other countries in the world combined, Billingslea called on China to come forward and discuss the matter with the US, which is not a request but its legal obligation.
This is something that would greatly tip the balance of power back towards the United States if China had to account for hundreds of tactical ballistic missiles pointed at them from surrounding countries just like the U.S. military has to do for Chinese missiles:
On Aug. 18, 2019, the Defense Department conducted a flight test of a conventionally configured ground-launched cruise missile at San Nicolas Island, Calif.
The first of the new weapons could be in operation within two years, though no decision has been announced about where they will be based. Similar missiles are now carried on U.S. warships and planes based in Asia, but there are no land-based systems.
U.S. officials say that many allies are privately supportive of the missile plan and may come around to permitting them on their territory but don’t want to provoke opposition from Beijing and their own public before decisions are on the table.
The U.S. has a defense treaty with Japan, as it does with South Korea, the Philippines and Australia. Taiwan is not a formal ally but has close, unofficial defense ties with Washington.
“We are very attentive to our allies’ concerns, and we recognized their political challenges,” said a senior defense official, who agreed to discuss Pentagon planning if he was not identified. “Everything that’s said in the media is not necessarily what’s said behind closed doors.”
There is now way these missiles will be allowed in South Korea, but the Philippines would be the ideal location for them in response to a South China Sea scenario. The Philippines of course would demand huge concessions in return which I would not be surprised if this is something being negotiated now.
