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North Korea’s latest missile launch ‘raises alarms’ it’s serious about shooting down US planes
- One analyst says the launch is a warning to the US over spy planes flying near the North’s waters, and the impending arrival of a US nuclear submarine in the South
- Launch also appeared to be a morale booster after Pyongyang lost face by admitting to the failure of its much-vaunted space satellite launch last month, experts said
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North Korea’s latest launch of a long-range missile is dangerously raising the risk that the nuclear-armed state will make good on its threat to shoot down US spy planes operating near its waters, analysts have said.
The sanctions-hit North fired what was believed to be an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) from an area near Pyongyang on Wednesday morning. After being launched from a lofted trajectory, the missile flew some 1,000km before splashing into the water, according to South Korea’s military.
South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol and leaders of Nato’s other Indo-Pacific partner countries criticised the launch while on the sidelines of the Nato summit in Lithuania, calling for a joint response to missile and nuclear threats.
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“[The missile launch] again shows that the security of the Atlantic and the Pacific regions are inseparable,” Yoon said.
This move alarmingly raises the possibility of the North carrying out its threat to shoot down US spy planes
Yang Moo-jin, a political-science professor at the University of North Korean Studies, said Wednesday’s launch was intended as a warning to the US for its reconnaissance flights, and the impending arrival of a nuclear submarine in the South.
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