North Korean test ballistic missile covered 400 km: South Korean military

Seoul:  A short-range ballistic missile (SRBM) test-fired by North Korea on Sunday flew a distance of 400 km, South Korea’s Yonhap news agency reported citing the country’s military.

The missile, North Korea’s first test-fired missile for 2023, was launched from Pyongyang’s Ryongsong area at 2.50 am (local time), according to Yonhap. It was fired into the Sea of Japan and flew some 400 km before splashing into the sea, Yonhap quoted the South Korean military as saying.

According to North Korean observers, as quoted by the Yonhap report, the Sunday exercise appeared to be another response to Seoul’s test launch of a homegrown solid-propellant space rocket on Friday.

The US Indo-Pacific Command issuing a statement said it is aware of the ballistic missile launch which highlights the destabilising impact of North Korea’s ballistic missile programs.

“While we have assessed that this event does not pose an immediate threat to US personnel or territory, or to our allies, the missile launch, alongside the three launches conducted less than 24 hours ago, highlights the destabilising impact of the DPRK’s (North Korea) unlawful WMD and ballistic missile programs,” the statement posted on its Twitter handle read.

The US Indo-Pacific Command said US commitments to the defence of the Republic of Korea and Japan remain ironclad.

This latest launch comes as North Korean leader Kim vowed to increase the production of nuclear warheads “exponentially” and build a more powerful intercontinental ballistic missile, state media KCNA reported.

Kim accused South Korea of being “hell-bent on imprudent and dangerous arms build-up” and openly trumpeting its preparations for war with North Korea. That, Kim said, highlights the need to mass-produce battlefield tactical nuclear weapons and push for “an exponential increase of the country’s nuclear arsenal,” KCNA said.

In its own announcement, the North said it fired “super-large” calibre artillery shells on Saturday and Sunday in sample tests. The multiple rocket launcher system has been presented to the ruling Workers’ Party of Korea during its key plenary session, the report said.

Kim Jong-un said the 600-mm super-large shells can be loaded with tactical nuclear warheads with the entire South in range, the report added.

The South’s military categorises such super-large multiple rocket launchers as SRBMs, given their ranges and trajectories.

The JCS denounced the North’s latest missile launch as an act of “significant provocation” that harms peace and stability not only on the Korean Peninsula but also in the international community, and a “clear” breach of UN Security Council resolutions.

“Our military will maintain a solid readiness posture based on capabilities to respond overwhelmingly to any North Korean provocations,” Yonhap quoted the JCS’ text message sent to the media.

On Saturday, North Korea test-fired three short-range ballistic missiles toward the Sea of Japan. The missiles were launched from Chunghwa County in North Korea’s North Hwanghae Province at around 8 am local time.

Citing Japan’s Defence Ministry, the Japanese Kyodo news agency said that the three ballistic missiles flew over a distance of 350 km, reaching a maximum altitude of 100 km. All of the missiles landed outside of Japan’s exclusive economic zone.

The North launched around 70 ballistic missiles last year alone.

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