The tensions in East Asia seldom seem to abate, and now Kim Jong Un has made another move that will unsettle Japan and South Korea in particular. On the 8th of May, North Korea fired multiple short-range ballistic missiles toward the East Sea, also known as the Sea of Japan, according to South Korea’s military.
The launch marked Pyongyang’s first ballistic missile test since March, news reports indicated. The missiles flew up to 800 kilometers (497 miles) before landing in the sea.
South Korea’s joint chiefs of staff (JCS) said it detected the launch, “likely” involving multiple short-range ballistic missiles, from North Korea’s eastern coastal city of Wonsan at around 8.10 a.m. local time (2310 GMT Wednesday).
“Our military has bolstered surveillance against an additional launch and maintains a full readiness posture while closely sharing information on the North’s ballistic missiles with the United States and Japan,” the JCS said in a statement.
South Korea, the US, and Japan condemned the missile launches by Pyongyang.
Japanese Foreign Ministry official Okochi Akihiro and South Korean Foreign Ministry official Kim Heun Jin, during a phone talk, “strongly condemned the launches, calling them a threat to the peace and security of the region and the international community.”
The two sides also “reaffirmed close coordination among Japan, the US and the South Korea,” said a statement from the Japanese Foreign Ministry.
Washington also condemned the launches and called on Pyongyang to “refrain from further unlawful and destabilizing acts.”
Japanese Premier Shigeru Ishiba and Australian Premier Anthony Albanese discussed cooperation on security matters over the phone after the missile launches, said a Japanese Foreign Ministry statement.
The two leaders agreed to work together on economic and security issues, including those related to resources and energy, and expressed their intention to collaborate through frameworks such as The Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, it said.
Since March 10, this was North Korea’s first known ballistic activity, when it fired multiple ballistic missiles hours after US and South Korean troops started an annual combined military exercise, and the country’s 6th launch event of the year.
North Korea has already collaborated with Russia in its war against Ukraine, and it has deep relations with China. Its increased military posturing is sure to alarm Japan and South Korea and incense the region as well.
