Amid the prospect of North Korea undertaking a new nuclear test and growing hostility in the Korean peninsula, Pyongyang fired more than 10 missiles on Wednesday, including one that landed close to South Korea’s waters.
The latest firing comes amid North Korea test-launching a series of ballistic missiles last week in the buffer zones and towards the Sea of Japan. South Korea, which is already conducting its largest joint air exercises with the United States in almost five years, called the firing “a territorial invasion”.
It is for the “first time since the peninsula was divided” at the end of the Korean War hostilities in 1953 that a North Korean missile had landed so close to the South’s territorial waters.
This comes in the backdrop of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un telling the world this September that the country has developed nuclear weapons and will never give them up.
There is also a growing possibility that North Korea might carry out a nuclear bomb test, the first since 2017, the head of the United Nations’ International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has said.
The UN nuclear chief has said that a new nuclear test explosion by North Korea “would be yet another confirmation of a program which is moving full steam ahead in a way that is incredibly concerning.” Rafael Grossi said the International Atomic Energy Agency sees preparations for a seventh test but has no indication of whether an atomic blast is imminent.
Why is the World Worried?
North Korea held six nuclear tests there from 2006 to 2017. The United States and its allies are concerned that the country may be about to resume nuclear bomb testing for the first time since 2017, something that would be highly unwelcome to the Biden administration ahead of mid-term elections early next month.
North Korea has rejected US calls to return to talks. A seventh North Korean nuclear test would be further “confirmation of a programme which is moving full steam ahead in a way that is incredibly concerning,” the head of the U.N. nuclear watchdog said on Thursday.
Moreover, a report in CNN suggested that North Korea may have produced enough fissile material to build between 45 and 55 nuclear weapons. The United States has been warning since April that Pyongyang is preparing to undertake nuclear bomb test after a five-year hiatus.
It has also been testing a variety of ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and hypersonic missiles. It is testing missiles with longer and longer ranges.
Record Firing This Year
North Korea has staged a record number of missile launches this year, with reports claiming the number to be over 20.
The firing of missiles is believed to make the country ready for a seventh underground nuclear test.
What has North Korea Said?
North Korea has claimed that its missile launches are in response to the threat posed by the US and its South Korean allies.
The recent firing of two SRBMs was in response to South Korea’s two weeks of major drills aimed at deterring its neighbour. North Korea has said its recent missile launches were in protest against the joint exercises, which it says are provocative and a rehearsal for an invasion.
The country is angered by South Korea’s military exercises with the US in recent months — including joint military drills that involved the USS Ronald Reagan aircraft carrier and accompanying ships — and fired hundreds of artillery shells off its coast last week in what it called a warning to its southern neighbour.
(With inputs from agencies)
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