first launch of North Korea missle

 In first launch of 2024, North Korea tests intermediate-range missile.

 

The moves by the North have helped push Japan and South Korea closer on security issues, while also prompting Tokyo, Seoul and Washington to reach a landmark agreement at Camp David in the United States last year to help rein in Pyongyang's nuclear ambitions.

Last month, the three countries announced the activation of a real-time system for sharing data on tracking North Korean missiles, while also establishing a multiyear plan for trilateral military drills.

   

North Korea launched an apparent intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM) on Sunday — its first launch this year — with the missile falling into the Sea of Japan outside Japan's exclusive economic zone.

The launch, the North's first since it tested a Hwasong-18 solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missile on Dec. 18, landed in waters outside the EEZ, which extends 200 nautical miles (370 kilometers) from Japan's coast, the Defense Ministry in Tokyo said.

The South Korean military said the launch was of an IRBM-class weapon and traveled some 1,000 km before splashing down.

While Japan's Defense Ministry did not immediately identify the type of missile, it said it had traveled at least 500 km, hitting a maximum altitude of roughly 50 km. The reason for the discrepancy with Seoul's account was not immediately clear.

According to Japan's Defense Ministry, an IRBM has a range of up to 5,000 km, which would place the U.S. territory of Guam within range if fired from parts of North Korea.

Guam is home to a sprawling U.S. military base that hosts a rotational presence of bombers that would likely be used in any conflict on the Korean Peninsula.

South Korean Defense Minister Shin Won-sik said in an interview with the Yonhap news agency last week that Pyongyang could test-fire solid-fuel IRBMs as early as this month and could also launch a long-range missile at normal angles.

North Korea in November claimed it had successfully tested new solid-fuel engines for IRBMs, in the nuclear-armed country’s latest development of a weapon capable of stealthily striking Japan and elsewhere.

Solid-fuel missiles offer significant advantages for North Korea over the liquid-fueled weapons that make up the bulk of Pyongyang’s arsenal. They are easier to deploy and can be fired off quicker, giving the United States and its allies less time to spot them and take them out.

Speaking at a news conference during his first visit to earthquake-hit Ishikawa Prefecture, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said the government was working to get a handle on the latest launch.

"I have issued instructions to assess the situation, provide appropriate information to the public, ensure the safety of ships and other vessels and take all possible measures to respond appropriately to any unforeseen circumstances," he said.

 

Sunday's missile test comes amid a threatening shift in ties with Seoul. Earlier this month, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un continued a stepped-up pressure campaign on South Korea by calling it the "principal enemy.”

Kim also ordered his military to conduct live-fire drills near a nautical boundary that has been the scene of deadly confrontations in the past. He’s also said North Korea should "no longer make the mistake” of considering Seoul a partner for reunification.

North Korea has made rapid progress in advancing its missile and nuclear weapons programs in recent years, carrying out tests of powerful new systems intended to strike U.S. and allied bases in South Korea and Japan, which host the bulk of American forces in the region.

In November, Pyongyang trumpeted what it said was the successful launch of its first military spy satellite.

Kim in December ordered his country's military, munitions industry and nuclear weapons sector to boost preparations for war, while expanding strategic cooperation with "anti-imperialist independent" countries.

The North has in recent months bolstered ties with Russia, in particular, with the U.S. and South Korea accusing Pyongyang of providing Moscow with artillery and missiles for its bloody war in Ukraine in exchange for technical assistance in improving its military capabilities.

Washington said earlier this month that Russia had used North Korean-supplied ballistic missiles in recent strikes on Ukraine. Seoul, meanwhile, has alleged that Pyongyang is using Ukraine as a "test site of its nuclear-capable missiles."

In a sign of the growing ties, North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui was due to pay an official visit to Russia from Monday to Wednesday at the invitation of Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, the North's official Korean Central News Agency reported Sunday.

The moves by the North have helped push Japan and South Korea closer on security issues, while also prompting Tokyo, Seoul and Washington to reach a landmark agreement at Camp David in the United States last year to help rein in Pyongyang's nuclear ambitions.

Last month, the three countries announced the activation of a real-time system for sharing data on tracking North Korean missiles, while also establishing a multiyear plan for trilateral military drills.