Japan Coastguard guard, S.Korean military report appears Ballistic Missile test, North Korea’s Kim vowed to tighten defenses on New Year’s address, S. Korea’s Moon ‘it is very sad.
SEOUL, Jan 5- North Korea fired an alleged Fires ballistic missile off its east coast on Wednesday, hours before South Korean President Moon Jae-in attended a major railway construction event in hopes of eventually connecting the divided Korean peninsula.
The inaugural address since October reaffirmed President Kim Jong Un’s New Year’s resolution to strengthen the military to deal with the ongoing international tensions between the ongoing talks with South Korea and the United States.
An arrow is thought to have been shot around 8:10 a.m. (2310 GMT) is moving from the inland coast to the sea, reports South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS).
A few hours later, Moon visited a South Korean town on the east coast of Goseong near the border with the North, where he broke a new railway line he called “the stairwell of regional peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula.”
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The launch of missile weapons in the North with nuclear weapons highlighted the challenges Moon faces in his campaign to achieve communications success before the end of his five-year term in May.
Reconnecting the two Koreans by train was the basis for meetings between Kim and the Moon in 2018, but those efforts did not go well as talks aimed at convincing North Korea to offer its nuclear weapons to reduce international sanctions imposed in 2019.
Kim’s New Year’s speech did not address South Korea’s efforts to resume standing talks or the United States’ promise to speak out, though analysts have noted that this does not mean that it has closed the door to negotiations.
South Korea’s National Security Council convened an emergency meeting, expressing concern about the launch “comes at a time when internal and external stability is critical” and called on North Korea to return to negotiations.
Japan’s defense minister said the arrow allegedly flew around 500 kilometers (310 miles). Learn more
“Since last year, North Korea has once again fired missiles, which is unfortunate,” Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida told reporters.
UN Security Council resolutions ban all ballistic missile and nuclear tests carried out by North Korea, and impose sanctions on these programs.
In a summary of the state media coverage of Kim’s speech before the New Year, the North Korean leader did not comment directly on the missiles or nuclear weapons, but said that national defense should be strengthened.
For several weeks North Korean troops have been training for the winter, South Korean military officials say.
“Our troops are always ready to make further submissions while carefully monitoring the situation in conjunction with the United States,” the JCS statement said. Recent North Korean arrow tests often include double or multiple launches.
Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 epidemic, North Korea has become even more isolated, imposing restrictions on trade that has reduced trade into deceptive proportions and eliminated any individual negotiations.
It also adhered to a system of self-assessment of intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM) or nuclear weapons. The last test for ICBMs or nuclear bomb was in 2017, before Kim met with US President Donald Trump.
But Pyongyang has continued to test new, short-range missiles, including the launch of a submarine in October, arguing that it should not be punished for building foreign weapons.
“While the study of North Korea’s recent conventions is likely to prioritize rural development next year, it does not mean that the country will suspend its missile tests,” said Michelle Kae, deputy director of the North North, North Korea monitoring program. at Washington’s Stimson Center.
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In a report last month, the US government’s congressional Research Service concluded that North Korea continues to advance its nuclear weapons and missile programs despite United Nations Security Council sanctions and communications efforts.
“Recent tests of ballistic missiles and military demonstrations suggest that North Korea continues to build anti-nuclear weapons designed to avoid defending regional missiles,” the report said.
A few hours after North Korea was launched, Japan announced that its foreign ministers and defense ministers would hold talks with their US counterparts on Friday to discuss security issues. Learn more
The White House, the Pentagon and the US Department of State did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Wednesday.
At a regular news conference Monday, State Department spokesman Ned Price reiterated the United States’ desire to negotiate with North Korea, saying Washington had no intention of opposing North Korea and was willing to meet unconditionally.