South Korea’s presidential office has strongly criticized North Korea’s recent launch of over 10 short-range ballistic missiles and has instructed its military to remain on high alert during the ongoing joint military exercises with the United States.
An emergency security meeting was called by the presidential office, where officials from the Defence Ministry and military authorities discussed the situation after North Korea fired the missiles from the Pyongyang area towards the sea to the east of the Korean Peninsula. The office stated that the ballistic missile launch was a serious violation of UN Security Council resolutions and demanded North Korea to immediately cease such actions.
According to South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, the missiles traveled approximately 300 kilometers towards the sea. This launch occurred following the decision to scale back the 11-day Ulchi Freedom Shield exercises by the South Korean and U.S. militaries, with U.S. President Donald Trump ordering a substantial reduction in the exercise.
Kim Yo Jong, the spokesperson for North Korea’s regime and sister of Kim Jong Un, dismissed Trump’s recent statements and emphasized that reducing the duration and size of military drills would not change their provocative nature. She highlighted previous military drills conducted by the U.S. and South Korea and criticized South Korea’s plans to introduce nuclear-powered submarines.
Yang Moo-jin, a professor at the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul, suggested that North Korea’s missile launch had various purposes, including expressing opposition to the South Korea-U.S. military exercises and issuing warnings to outside powers about speculating on Pyongyang’s security matters.
The missile launch serves as a reminder that decisions regarding North Korea’s security are solely under North Korea’s purview, stated Yang. Trump’s past responses to North Korean missile tests were also mentioned, along with ongoing discussions about the cost of maintaining U.S. troops in South Korea.
Additionally, Japan reported that North Korea had fired a ballistic missile towards the sea, with the projectile falling outside Japan’s exclusive economic zone. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, visiting Seoul, urged South Korea to remain neutral between Beijing and Washington and called for a peaceful coexistence between North and South Korea. China and North Korea have shown strengthened ties in recent times through multiple meetings between Kim and Xi Jinping.