South Korea says first North Korean missile test following Biden’s Asia trip was intercontinental ballistic missile
- The launches follow fears that Pyongyang would conduct a nuclear test during the US president’s visit
- Biden and South Korea’s Yoon Suk-yeol had discussed expanded military exercises to counter Kim Jong-un’s sabre rattling
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The South Korean government said on Wednesday the first of three missiles launched by North Korea in the morning was believed to be an intercontinental ballistic missile.
The South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff said the three ballistic missiles were fired from the Sunan area of North Korea’s capital.
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But they also offered to send Covid-19 vaccines as the isolated North is battling its first confirmed outbreak.
On his last day in Seoul, Biden told reporters he had a only a short message for Kim: “Hello. Period.”
Kim has recently doubled down on his programme of military modernisation.
Included among Pyongyang’s multitude of tests this year was the firing of an intercontinental ballistic missile at full range.
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North Korean leader Kim Jong-un threatens nuclear strike while showing off newest ICBM missiles
Political Science professor Yang Moo-jin of the University of North Korean Studies told the Post: “It’s quire rare that the North has conducted various missile tests all at once, involving an ICBM and short and short and middle range missiles.
“This is the first military action that was timed to express its resentment at the outcome of Biden’s trip to South Korea and Japan, which reaffirms the Norths stance that it is ready to opt for confrontation if it’s forced to do so.”
Yang also believes the tests could indicate further problems for the region, “We are going to see tensions on the Korean peninsula rise up to an unprecedented level since the Korean war as the Korean peninsula will be a hotspot where new Cold War-style confrontation unfurls involving the United States and its allies on one side and China and Russia on the other”.
Despite struggling with a recent Covid-19 outbreak, new satellite imagery has indicated the North has resumed construction at a long-dormant nuclear reactor.
Additional reporting by Reuters, Kyodo
