South Korea to deploy ‘US strategic assets’ as Kim Jong-un’s North Korea fires more missiles
- South Korea announced the launch of two missiles, the seventh round of testing in two weeks; Japan also confirmed the launch
- North Korea had warned the redeployment of a US aircraft carrier near the Korean peninsula was inflaming regional tensions
South Korea said its military will strengthen security cooperation with the US and Japan, including the deployment of “US strategic assets,” after Kim Jong-un’s North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles on Sunday.
The provocations, in violation of a United Nations Security Council’s resolution, will strengthen sanctions against North Korea, worsen public welfare and make the regime “very unstable,” South Korea’s National Security Council said in a statement after an urgent meeting to brief President Yoon Suk-yeol.
North Korea fired the missiles, the latest of a recent barrage of weapons tests, a day after it warned the redeployment of a US aircraft carrier near the Korean peninsula was inflaming regional tensions.
South Korea’s joint chiefs of staff said in a statement that it detected two missile launches on Sunday between 1:48am and 1:58am from the North’s eastern coastal city of Munchon. It added that South Korea’s military has boosted its surveillance posture and maintains a readiness in close coordination with the United States.
Japanese Vice Defence Minister Toshiro Ino also confirmed the launches, saying Pyongyang’s testing activities are “absolutely unacceptable” as they threaten regional and international peace and security. Ino said the weapons could be submarine-launched ballistic missiles.
