Thursday, September 16, 2021
Location in North and South Korea
UN Security Council alerted after missile tests
North and South Korea successively fire missiles into the sea. The relationship between the countries continues to intensify. The UN Security Council therefore calls an emergency meeting. The US is heavily criticizing North Korea’s missile tests.
The UN Security Council wants to deal with the increasing military tensions on the Korean peninsula behind closed doors. According to information from diplomatic circles, France and Estonia called for the meeting on Wednesday, which should take place on the same day (local time). Previously, both North and South Korea had fired ballistic missiles into the sea.
The United Nations called on both governments to enter into dialogue. The UN is “concerned about the latest developments that we have seen,” said UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric. The US had previously sharply criticized North Korea for its missile tests. The launch of the rockets is “a violation of several resolutions of the UN Security Council and represents a danger to neighboring states and other members of the international community,” said a spokesman for the US State Department.
Seoul successfully tested a submarine-based ballistic missile (SLBM) on Wednesday. South Korea is only the seventh country in the world with such an advanced technology. The SLBM is seen as an important strategic advantage for Seoul over the north. According to government reports, the SLBM was fired from the new submarine “Ahn Chang-ho” under water and hit its target as planned. South Korea has increased its military capabilities in the face of the threat from the north. With the SLBM, South Korea now has “sufficient deterrence to react at any time to the provocations of North Korea,” said President Moon Jae In after the tests.
Shortly afterwards, he was harshly attacked by the influential sister of North Korean ruler Kim Jong Un. Kim Yo Jong condemned “the illogical stance of Seoul” which regards its rocket launches as “legitimate actions in support of peace and our actions as a threat to peace,” she said, according to state media.
A few hours earlier, North Korea had fired “two short-range ballistic missiles” into the sea from the province of South Pyongan, as the South Korean General Staff said. They had flown about 800 kilometers at a maximum altitude of 60 kilometers. According to the Ministry of Defense in Tokyo, the missiles landed in waters claimed by Japan.
North Korea sends signal to Beijing
The North Korean missile tests took place shortly after a visit by Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi to the South Korean capital, Seoul. Analysts consider the timing of the tests to be an unmistakable signal to Beijing, which is considered North Korea’s most important diplomatic ally and trading partner. North Korea expert Yang Moo Jin rated the North Korean missile tests as “an indirect message from North Korea and even an invitation to Beijing to put the Korean peninsula as a central issue on the Chinese agenda”. At the same time, Pyongyang apparently wanted to demonstrate its supremacy on the Korean peninsula.
On Saturday and Sunday, North Korea said it had already tested a new “long-range missile”. According to a report by the official news agency KCNA, the tests were “successful”. The missiles would have flown over North Korean land and sea and hit targets 1500 kilometers away.
Because of its nuclear and missile program, North Korea is subject to harsh international sanctions, which make the economy of the communist-led and largely isolated country difficult. Talks between the USA and North Korea about the dismantling of the North Korean nuclear arsenal have been on hold since a summit meeting between ruler Kim and then US President Donald Trump in 2019. Under the US President Joe Biden, who has been in office since the beginning of the year, there has so far been no rapprochement between Washington and Pyongyang.
.