North Korea Launches Suspected ICBM Missile... Yoon Says "Clear Consequences for Reckless Provocation"

Joint Chiefs of Staff "Missile Launched into East Sea This Morning"
Kim Seong-han, Director of National Security Office, Chairs NSC Meeting
President Yoon Attends Just Before Departure to Japan

On the 16th, North Korea launched a missile presumed to be an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) into the East Sea. This appears to be aimed at the South Korea-Japan summit between President Yoon Suk-yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, held that afternoon. Just before departing for Japan in the morning, President Yoon attended an emergency National Security Council (NSC) Standing Committee meeting chaired by Kim Sung-han, Director of the National Security Office, at the underground National Crisis Management Center of the Yongsan Presidential Office in Seoul, warning that "North Korea's reckless provocation will certainly come with consequences."

According to the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the military detected one long-range ballistic missile launched by North Korea from the Pyongyang Sunan area toward the East Sea at around 7:10 a.m. that day. North Korea’s ballistic missile was launched at a higher angle than the normal trajectory (30?45 degrees), flew approximately 1,000 km, and landed in the East Sea.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

The 6th Provocation This Year... ICBM Threatens to Strike All of Japan, Targeting South Korea-Japan Summit

North Korea has carried out its sixth missile provocation this year. The ICBM launch comes one month after the high-angle launch of the Hwasong-15 on the 18th of last month. At that time, the missile reached an altitude of about 5,700 km and flew approximately 900 km. South Korean and U.S. intelligence agencies are currently analyzing the type of missile launched this time. It is presumed to be either the existing Hwasong-15 or Hwasong-17, but the possibility of a solid-fuel ICBM that appeared at last month’s military parade cannot be ruled out.

This provocation appears to be aimed at the South Korea-Japan summit between President Yoon Suk-yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida held in Tokyo that day. South Korea and Japan have recently strengthened security cooperation through trilateral exercises with the U.S., focusing especially on joint responses to North Korean provocations. For example, four days after the ICBM launch on the 18th of last month, a trilateral missile defense exercise involving South Korea, the U.S., and Japan was conducted.

The South Korea-Japan relationship, which had cooled during the Moon Jae-in administration, is expected to be fully restored through this summit, and military cooperation such as the normalization of the General Security of Military Information Agreement (GSOMIA) is also anticipated to strengthen. Given that the large-scale South Korea-U.S. joint exercise “Freedom Shield (FS)” is underway until the 23rd of this month, North Korea’s actions are interpreted as an attempt to counterbalance this.

On the 12th, the day before FS began, North Korea fired two submarine-launched cruise missiles (SLCMs), and on the 14th, it launched two short-range ballistic missiles (SRBMs). Adding the ICBM launch to these is interpreted as a threat capable of striking not only the Korean Peninsula but all of Japan. Yang Moo-jin, head of the North Korean Studies Department at the University of North Korean Studies, said, "This missile launch appears to demonstrate dominance over the Korean Peninsula issue and technically serves as a rehearsal for a normal-angle launch. Choosing the date of the South Korea-Japan summit, which can maximize the practical response effect to the South Korea-U.S. joint exercises, is a dual-purpose move: a backlash against South Korea and the U.S., and a warning aimed at the close ties between South Korea and Japan."

President Yoon: "Firmly Maintain the South Korea-U.S. Combined Defense Posture to Deter North Korean Threats"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

In this regard, President Yoon instructed at the NSC meeting that the South Korean military should thoroughly carry out the ongoing “Freedom Shield” joint exercises while maintaining a firm South Korea-U.S. combined defense posture capable of deterring any North Korean threat. He also emphasized conducting the planned joint exercises, including air assault and carrier strike group drills, with intensity. In particular, he warned that "North Korea’s reckless provocations will certainly come with consequences" and called for further strengthening of South Korea-U.S.-Japan security cooperation.

NSC standing committee members strongly condemned North Korea’s long-range ballistic missile launch as a clear violation of United Nations Security Council resolutions, a serious provocation that escalates tensions on the Korean Peninsula and threatens regional peace.

NSC participants noted that while the Kim Jong-un regime continues nuclear development and missile provocations, it has not resolved economic difficulties and chronic food shortages but instead relies on illegal activities such as smuggling fuel and luxury goods, exploiting workers for foreign currency, and cyber hacking. They agreed to continue efforts to more accurately inform the international community about North Korea’s current situation.

Attendees at the meeting included Kim Sung-han, Director of the National Security Office; Kim Dae-gi, Chief of the Presidential Secretariat; Park Jin, Minister of Foreign Affairs; Kwon Young-se, Minister of Unification; Lee Jong-sup, Minister of National Defense; Kim Kyu-hyun, Director of the National Intelligence Service; Kim Tae-hyo, Secretary-General of the NSC; and Lim Jong-deuk, Deputy Director of the National Security Office.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.