North Korea fired multiple ballistic missiles on Sunday in an exercise that adds to its record pace of launches for the year, and as the U.S. warned Pyongyang may soon conduct its first nuclear weapons test since 2017.
Multiple missiles were fired toward waters off the country’s east coast, Yonhap News Agency cited an unidentified source as saying. The missiles have landed, Japan’s Coast Guard said, and appear to have splashed down in waters outside of Japan’s exclusive economic zone, the Asahi newspaper reported, citing an unidentified government official.
North Korea last fired off missiles on May 25, just hours after Joe Biden finished his first trip as president to South Korea and Japan. It was one of the biggest provocations that coincided with a U.S. president’s visit to the region and tested Biden’s efforts to strengthen defense ties with the two American allies.
North Korea may also soon conduct a nuclear test, according to U.S., South Korean and Japanese government officials in a meeting last week. North Korea is barred from testing ballistic missiles and nuclear devices by United Nations Security Council resolutions.
Biden and U.S. allies might not have much leverage in trying to slow down the tests or ratchet up global sanctions to punish Pyongyang for its provocations. The U.S. push to isolate Russia over Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine, coupled with increasing animosity toward China, has allowed North Korea leader Kim Jong Un to strengthen his nuclear deterrent without fear of facing more sanctions at the U.N. Security Council.
There’s almost no chance Russia or China, which have veto power at the council, would support any measures against North Korea, as they did in 2017 following a series of weapons tests that prompted then-President Donald Trump to warn of “fire and fury.” The two countries in late May vetoed a council resolution drafted by the U.S. to ratchet up sanctions on North Korea for its ballistic missile tests this year.
South Korea said the May 25 test included a suspected intercontinental ballistic missile that reached an altitude of about 540 kilometers (335 miles) and traveled a distance of about 360 kilometers. Weapons experts said North Korea also appeared to have launched a short-range ballistic missile with a maneuverable warhead as well as another rocket that failed soon after lift-off. The ICBM is designed to carry a nuclear warhead capable of reaching the U.S. mainland.
