North Korea fired a ballistic missile that fell 170 km from Japan, in its exclusive maritime economic zone! – La Tribune.fr

While eyes are riveted on Ukraine, Kim Jong-un, the North Korean president continues his show of force. North Korea fired an “unidentified projectile” on Thursday, which fell just 170 km off the coast of Japan, according to the Japanese coast guard, and more precisely in the maritime exclusive economic zone, according to the South Korean army. of Japan, according to the Japanese Defense Ministry. The Coast Guard has issued a warning message to ships about what is believed to be “an intercontinental ballistic missile that was fired from North Korea”. “Our analyzes indicate that the ballistic missile flew for 71 minutes and fell around 3:44 p.m. the Makoto Oniki Defense, adding that it could be an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). According to the South Korean military, North Korea fired a ballistic missile last week, but the test ended in total failure. According to analysts, this missed shot would be a Hwasong-17, nicknamed the “monster missile”, an ICBM which has never been launched. A month ago, North Korea fired a ballistic missile from Sunan, near Pyongyang, towards the Sea of ​​Japan. All over about 300 km at a maximum altitude of 620 km. After a month of calm during the Beijing Olympics, this is the eighth shot of the year. Multitude of launches since the beginning of the year In January, North Korea had indeed carried out seven launches, a record number in a month, including that of its most powerful missile since 2017, the surface-to-surface ballistic missile at intermediate range and long Hwasong-12. This while negotiations with the United States have stalled since the failure, in 2019, of the meeting between Kim Jong-un and US President Donald Trump, then President of the United States. Since the inauguration of US President Joe Biden in January 2021, Pyongyang has rejected the various dialogue proposals made by Washington. The year 2021 was also marked by major advances in armament for North Korea. And for good reason, Pyongyang claimed to have successfully tested a new type of ballistic missile launched by a submarine, a long-range cruise missile and a weapon launched by a train and which it declared to be a hypersonic warhead. Moreover, in December, Kim Jong Un reaffirmed that his priority was to modernize the country’s arsenal. Today, some experts fear that North Korea is seeking to take advantage of the Russian invasion of Ukraine to test long-range missiles again. On January 20, Pyongyang threatened to resume its nuclear or missile tests, saying it was forced to do so by the “hostile” policy of the United States towards it. North Korea recently held the United States responsible for the war in Ukraine, in its first official reaction to the Russian invasion. “The root cause of the Ukrainian crisis lies (…) in the authoritarianism and arbitrariness of the United States,” said a message published on the website of the North Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs. “North Korea was not going to please anyone by sitting still while the rest of the world deals with Russia’s aggression against Ukraine,” said Leif-Eric Easley, a professor at Ewha University in Seoul. Development of nuclear arsenal According to a confidential UN report to which AFP had access in February, North Korea has continued for a year to develop its nuclear arsenal and its missile capabilities despite international sanctions imposed on it. Pyongyang, “Cyberattacks, especially on cryptocurrency assets, remain an important source of revenue for the government of North Korea”, noted this annual document which had just been given to the 15 members of the Security Council of the UN. “The quantity of illicit imports of refined petroleum has increased sharply” for a year “but at a level much lower than that of previous years”, also indicated the report produced by the UN experts responsible for monitoring the embargo. on arms and international economic sanctions imposed on North Korea. In terms of North Korean armaments that the international community is trying to limit, Pyongyang “has continued to maintain and develop its nuclear and ballistic missile programs in violation of Security Council resolutions”, underline the experts. “Although no nuclear tests or intercontinental missile launches were reported, North Korea has continued to develop its nuclear fissile material production capability,” they added. For a year, Pyongyang “has demonstrated increased rapid deployment capabilities, high mobility (including at sea) and improved resilience of its missile forces”, also notes the report. “Maintenance and development of North Korea’s nuclear and ballistic missile infrastructure continued”, and the country “continued to seek equipment, technology and know-how for these programs at the abroad, in particular by computer means and joint scientific research”, he assured. The experts said they had also noted a stoppage of imports by North Korean leaders of luxury goods, in particular high-end cars, as had been denounced in previous years. North Korea has been under international sanctions since 2006, which were significantly increased three times in 2017 under the US presidency of Donald Trump. The measures taken that year unanimously by the Security Council to compel Pyongyang to interrupt its nuclear and ballistic weapons programs affect in particular North Korea’s oil imports and its exports of coal, iron, textiles and fishing. Since 2017, the Security Council has never found a consensus on the North Korean dossier, as proved again by a closed meeting on Friday of the Security Council requested by Washington to condemn the latest North Korean missile tests. To break the impasse, China and Russia had offered relief from sanctions for humanitarian purposes, refused by the West. latribune.fr March 24, 2022, 8:50 am