The first reports were that three rockets were fired on Monday, but North Korea, South Korea and Japan later stated that it was two rockets. North Korea’s state news agency KCNA confirms that two missiles hit the targets of the test, 395 kilometers and 337 kilometers away. The missiles can be turned into tactical nuclear weapons capable of knocking out an enemy air base, KCNA claims. Both South Korea’s General Staff and Japan’s Ministry of Defense recorded the missile test. The rockets were launched between 7:00 a.m. and 7:11 a.m. local time on Monday morning from the Sukchon area in the province of South Pyongan, according to information from South Korea. The Ministry of Defense in Tokyo states that the missiles reached a maximum height of 100 kilometers and 50 kilometers and flew about 350–400 kilometers before falling into the sea outside Japan’s economic zone. Monday’s missile test was the third major North Korea has carried out so far this year. South Korea describes the test as a serious provocation and calls for an immediate halt to the country’s missile testing. Warns the US Monday’s missile test occurred two days after the country launched an intercontinental ballistic missile which, according to Tokyo, ended up in the sea in the Japanese economic zone. As the first reports came about Monday’s latest missile test, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s sister Kim Yo-jong issued a statement. She said North Korea’s judgment about using the Pacific Ocean as its “launching range” depends on the United States. In the statement, which was carried by the state news agency KCNA, Kim said Pyongyang should carefully assess the impact of the US’ increased strategic presence in the region. On Sunday, the US and South Korea held a joint military exercise in the air, in response to North Korea’s missile test the day before. A television screen shows an image of North Korea’s missile launch during a news program at Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea, Monday, February 20, 2023. Photo: Ahn Young-joon/AP Sanctions The regime in Pyongyang is subject to severe international sanctions due to the country’s nuclear weapons program. The number of missile tests soared after the US and South Korea resumed full-scale joint military exercises last year. The exercise activity is primarily intended as a deterrent for North Korea. North Korea has protested strongly and stated that the country’s missile tests are a response to military threats from the United States. The leadership in Pyongyang also protested vehemently when Japan decided earlier last year to almost double its defense budget to 2 percent of gross domestic product over a five-year period. The Japanese government maintained that this is part of a new strategy to contain threats from North Korea and a more ongoing foreign policy from China. Nuclear fear Western politicians, experts and analysts have for several months feared that North Korea may carry out its first nuclear weapons test in several years and what could be the seventh nuclear weapons test in the country’s history. That has not happened so far, but the country’s many missile tests through 2022 have been taken up in the UN Security Council. However, the Security Council has been paralyzed because Western countries have not been able to agree with Russia and China on reactions against North Korea.
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