At Ju-min Park
SEOUL (Reuters) – North Korea fired a purported intermediate-range ballistic missile into the sea on Tuesday in a possible test of a new rocket using solid fuel, drawing swift condemnation from South Korea, Japan and the United States.
South Korea’s military said it detected what appeared to be an intermediate-range ballistic missile launched from an area of the North Korean capital Pyongyang at 6.53am on Tuesday (2153 GMT Monday) before crashing into the sea at off the east coast.
It flew about 600 km (372 miles) before falling into the sea, South Korea said, while Japan’s Defense Ministry estimated it covered a distance of 650 km (400 miles) and reached a maximum altitude of 100 km (62 miles).
South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff did not specify the exact type of missile or what kind of warhead it might carry, but North Korea has tested a new intermediate-range hypersonic missile powered by a solid-fuel engine.
South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff spokesman Lee Sung-jun said the launch was likely “tied” to the test of a recent solid-fuel engine.
In March, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un oversaw a ground test of a solid-fuel motor for a new type of intermediate-range hypersonic missile to develop national defense capability, state media reported.
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida condemned the launch as harmful to regional and international peace and stability.
The US Indo-Pacific Command said the event posed no immediate danger to its troops or allies, but condemned it as an unlawful and destabilizing act.
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol said the North may try to sow confusion in his country ahead of parliamentary elections this month. He said such an attempt would be futile and that the response to any North Korean aggression would be firm.
The US B-52 bomber joins the exercises
Amid concerns that Russia and North Korea are developing closer military ties, the United States and its key Asian allies South Korea and Japan are expanding security cooperation.
Aircraft from the three countries conducted air exercises involving a US B-52H strategic bomber on Tuesday to improve deterrence and counter-attack capabilities against missile and nuclear threats from the North, South Korea said.
Officials from the United States, South Korea and Ukraine have accused North Korea of supplying weapons such as missiles to Russia for use in the war in Ukraine. Pyongyang and Moscow have denied the accusations.
South Korea announced sanctions on two Russian ships that allegedly transported munitions between North Korea and Russia, and on two Russian organizations involved in hiring North Korean workers to help Pyongyang earn foreign exchange, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Tuesday. South Korea’s foreign affairs.
Meanwhile, the US government is organizing a summit between President Joe Biden and his Japanese and South Korean counterparts in July, on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Washington, Japanese media reported.