North fires missiles after U.S. nuclear-capable sub docks in Busan
North Korea launched two ballistic missiles into the East Sea early Wednesday morning, according to South Korean military authorities.
The launches came a day after a U.S. nuclear-capable submarine made a port call in the southern port city of Busan.
Seoul’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said the South Korean military detected the launches of two short-range ballistic missiles (SRBM) from the Sunan area of Pyongyang toward the East Sea at 3:30 a.m. and 3:46 a.m.
The JCS added that the missiles both flew approximately 550 kilometers (341.7 miles) before landing in the sea, and that South Korean and U.S. intelligence are analyzing their trajectories for more details.
The missiles were also detected by the Japanese coast guard, which said they appeared to have landed outside of Japan’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ).
The SRBM launches took place two days after the Kim Yo-jong, the powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, called the U.S. nuclear-capable submarine’s visit “a foolish act that could put its security at risk” by “provoking” the North.
The 18,750-ton Ohio-class USS Kentucky is first ballistic missile submarine to make a known port call in South Korea in over four decades.
The submarine’s arrival is intended to “manifest” the U.S. security commitment to South Korea, according to Kurt Campbell, the White House National Security Council coordinator for Indo-Pacific affairs, who came to Seoul to take part in Tuesday’s inaugural meeting of the South Korea-U.S. Nuclear Consultative Group (NCG).
The NCG is a bilateral consultative body created to strengthen extended deterrence that was first announced in the Washington Declaration signed by South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and U.S. President Joe Biden at their bilateral summit at the White House on April 26, during Yoon’s state visit to the United States.
But Kim warned that U.S. efforts to increase “extended deterrence,” including the submarine’s visit, would only push Pyongyang “farther from the negotiating table,” according to the state-controlled Korean Central News Agency.
She also said that the launch of a Hwasong-18 solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) by the North on July 12 was only the “beginning,” echoing her brother’s earlier statement that Pyongyang would “continue to carry out an even stronger military offensive” until Washington and Seoul admit “defeat.”
BY MICHAEL LEE [lee.junhyuk@joongang.co.kr]