North Korea Provokes with Multiple Missile Launches Ahead of US Secretary Blinken's Visit to South Korea

<중양회, Provocation Resumes 33 Days After Russian Election Ended
First Provocation Since April 14>

From the left, a solid-fuel propelled hypersonic missile launched on January 14, 2024, and scenes of liquid-fuel propelled hypersonic test launches in January 2022 and September 2021. [Image source=Yonhap News]

North Korea launched ballistic missiles into the East Sea on the 18th. This is the second ballistic missile provocation this year.

The Joint Chiefs of Staff stated, "At around 7:44 a.m. today, several flying objects presumed to be short-range ballistic missiles were detected launched from the Sangwon area in Hwanghaebuk-do toward the East Sea."

This marks the resumption of provocations 33 days after the launch of a new type of anti-ship cruise missile on the 14th of last month. In terms of ballistic missile provocations, it is the first since the hypersonic intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM) on January 14, 64 days ago.

The military authorities are analyzing the exact flight distance, altitude, speed, and other specifications of North Korea's missiles. The Joint Chiefs said, "In preparation for additional launches, surveillance and vigilance have been strengthened, and we are maintaining a full readiness posture while closely sharing information related to North Korean ballistic missiles with U.S. and Japanese authorities."

There is an analysis that North Korea refrained from provocations considering recent political events in China, such as the Two Sessions (National People's Congress and Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference), and the Russian presidential election, but launched missiles again to coincide with the Democracy Summit held in Seoul on this day. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited Korea the day before to attend the opening of the '3rd Democracy Summit' in Seoul.

Yang Moo-jin, a professor at the University of North Korean Studies, explained, "(North Korea) appears to have aimed to assert its presence targeting Secretary Blinken's visit."

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