(Bloomberg) — North Korea launched what appeared to be a medium-range ballistic missile Wednesday, as Kim Jong Un ramps up his nuclear program ahead of U.S. President Joe Biden’s first visit to Seoul.
The regime fired off a ballistic missile just after noon local time Wednesday from an area near Pyongyang Sunan International Airport, according to the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff. The missile flew about 780 kilometers (480 miles) into space and fell into the sea about 470 kilometers away, giving it a possible reach consistent with an MRBM.
South Korea said it was still analyzing details of the launch and North Korean state media often don’t reveal details of such exercises until at least the next day. Kim’s regime is on pace for its busiest testing year ever, after launching at least 14 ballistic missiles since Jan. 1, including its first intercontinental ballistic missile test since 2017.
South Korean President-elect Yoon Suk Yeol’s transition team denounced the latest launch as an “outright violation” of United Nations resolutions banning ballistic missile tests. The act “threatens the peace and security of the international community and is absolutely unacceptable,” Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida told a group of reporters while visiting Rome, according to Kyodo News.
Biden is expected to make his first visit to Seoul as president on May 20, even as North Korea continues to rebuff his overtures to restart talks. During a military parade in Pyongyang last week, Kim showed off the full range range of new missiles developed during his decade-long reign and vowed to further accelerate the program.
Satellite imagery indicates North Korea is preparing a key site for the country’s first test of a nuclear bomb in almost five years. Any such display would serve as a reminder of the pressing security problems posed by Pyongyang that have simmered as the Biden administrations focuses on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
“North Korea seems to have resumed its martial protests before Biden’s visit to South Korea later this month and as U.S. deploys its strategic assets around the Korean Peninsula,” said Cheon Seong-whun, a former security strategy secretary for South Korea’s presidential office.
Asked by lawmakers during parliamentary hearings Wednesday what sort of weapon Kim launched, Defense Minister nominee Lee Jong-sup told lawmakers that it could’ve been an ICBM or a missile with a shorter range. That fed speculation that he could’ve tested his most advanced Hwasong-17 rocket at a reduced thrust to ensure success.
North Korea appeared to doctor a video of an ICBM launch in March to cover up a failed test of the Hwasong-17, which experts believe is designed to carry multiple warheads to the entire U.S. mainland. Another possibility was a new submarine-launched ballistic missile that state TV called “the world’s strongest weapon” during the parade last week.
Cha Du-hyeogn, who served as a security adviser to former South Korean President Lee Myung-bak, said the latest test was likely a short-range ballistic missile or MRBM, dismissing the idea that Kim would’ve spent resources launching a more powerful weapon without demonstrating its full capabilities.
“Kim Jong Un’s nuclear strategy was becoming more offensive and hostile,” Cha said. “There’s less incentive for him to conduct such a costly test with reduced range.”
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