North Korea Fires Multiple Ballistic Missiles as Blinken Arrives in South Korea

Pyongyang – Amid the brewing tensions in the Korean peninsula, North Korea fired multiple short-range ballistic missiles towards the East Sea on Monday. The latest provocation was confirmed by the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff, Yonhap reported. The missile launches coincided with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken's arrival in Seoul for a multilateral ministerial conference. Blinken is scheduled to conduct a meeting with senior government officials from 30 nations. Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida also issued advisories in response to a missile launch by North Korea. 

According to South Korean news outlet Yonhap, the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) stated that they detected the missile launches in the area of Pyongyang between 7:44 am (local time) and 8:22 am. "North Korea fired at least three missiles, and their trajectories were similar to those of KN-24," a senior military official said. The missile flew around 300 kilometres and landed in the East Sea. According to Yonhap, KN-24 is a solid-fuel ballistic missile which has a range of up to 410 km and a payload of 400-500 kg. "We strongly condemn North Korea's latest missile launch, which is a clear provocation that seriously threatens peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula," the JCS explained. 

North Korea's second missile launch of the year 

The Monday incident came a month after the North fired a new surface-to-sea cruise missile, the Padasuri-6, from its eastern coast. Hence, this marks North's second ballistic missile launch of the year. Meanwhile, Pyongyang has conducted five rounds of cruise missile tests this year. The Monday launch also came days after Seoul and Washington wrapped up the annual Freedom Shield exercise that focused on bolstering deterrence against North Korea's growing threats. Amid the chaos, Japan also condemned the recent launch. 

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida told the Diet that the tests were acts “that threaten the peace and safety of Japan, the region and international society”. He also mentioned that the recent launches go against the  UN Security Council resolutions that ban Pyongyang from conducting any sort of ballistic missile tests.