North Korea fires missile
South Korea and Japan on alert
05/31/2023, 02:17 am
Air raid sirens wailed in South Korea’s capital Seoul as North Korea allegedly fired a launch vehicle for a military reconnaissance satellite. Pyongyang announced the test beforehand.
North Korea has detonated a multi-stage rocket, according to the South Korean military. The government in Pyongyang fired “something it calls a space launch vehicle” in a southerly direction, the South Korean general staff said. The Japanese government confirmed that a missile had been launched from North Korea and issued an emergency alert to residents of southern Okinawa Prefecture. At the same time, air raid sirens wailed around 6:32 a.m. (2132 GMT/ Tuesday) in the South Korean capital of Seoul. Citizens have been urged to prepare for a possible evacuation. It was later said that the warning was accidental.
It is not yet clear whether the missile exploded or crashed in flight as it disappeared from radar before it reached its originally announced target, South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency quoted the military as saying. North Korea previously informed Japan and international authorities that it plans to launch its first military reconnaissance satellite between May 31 and June 11 to gather real-time intelligence on joint US-South Korean military exercises. The Pyongyang government said the launch would see various rocket stages and other debris fall into the Pacific Ocean as it headed south.
USA: Violation of UN resolution
Japan and South Korea responded to the announcement with protests. Before the launch, the US State Department said any North Korean launch using ballistic missile technology violated United Nations Security Council resolutions. “Space launch vehicles (SLVs) contain technology identical to and interchangeable with that of ballistic missiles, including ICBMs,” a State Department spokesman said.
North Korea, which it says is nuclear-armed, has launched an unprecedented number of missiles in the past year, including ICBMs that can reach the United States. At the same time, the closed country has resumed preparations for its first nuclear test since 2017. North Korea’s ballistic missile and nuclear weapons programs are banned by UN Security Council resolutions.