South Korea Says North Korea Fired Ballistic Missile Ahead of Joint US Drill

A TV screen shows a file image of a North Korean missile launch during a news program at the Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea, on Sept. 28, 2022. Ahn Young-joon/AP Photo

South Korea’s military said on Thursday that it would maintain “a full readiness posture” with the United States after detecting North Korea’s launch of a short-range ballistic missile into waters off its western coast.

The South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said the missile was launched from North Korea’s western port city of Nampo at around 6.20 p.m. (local time), but it did not specify how far the missile traveled.

“While strengthening its monitoring and vigilance, our military is maintaining a full readiness posture in close cooperation with the United States,” the JCS was quoted as saying by Yonhap News Agency.

North Korea’s state media did not issue a statement about the missile launch but reported that leader Kim Jong Un watched “a fire assault drill” of an artillery unit charged with striking an enemy’s airfield on Thursday.

Kim ordered his troops to be ready to “overwhelmingly respond to and contain” the country’s enemies, who he claimed were making “all sorts of more frantic war preparation moves,” the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said.

The North Korean leader further instructed his fire assault units to bolster their capabilities to carry out two strategic missions: “first to deter war, and second to take the initiative in war,” according to KCNA.

The missile launch occurred just days before the start of a major U.S.-South Korea joint military drill.

North Korea had earlier threatened that the United States and South Korea would face “unprecedented and strong counteractions” if they proceeded with their planned joint drills.

US Capitalizing ‘Every Leg of Nuclear Triad’

The United States vowed to capitalize on its nuclear triad—which refers to three systems of U.S. nuclear weapons, including nuclear-capable heavy bombers, long-range ballistic missiles, and nuclear-armed submarines—to deter North Korea’s aggression.

“North Korea continues to be a rogue actor and poses a threat to the United States and our allies,” General Anthony Cotton, commander of the U.S. Strategic Command, told the Senate Committee on Armed Services on Thursday.

“To ensure our continued ability to serve as the bedrock of integrated deterrence, we are recapitalizing every leg of the nuclear triad, and the nuclear command, control, and communication systems,” Cotton added.

State Department spokesperson Ned Price said on March 8 that the United States remains committed to defending its allies and that North Korea would continue to face increased “costs” until it changes its approach.

“We want to see the DPRK change its approach in the direction of dialogue and diplomacy. This is what we have put forward multiple times now,” Price said, using the acronym for North Korea’s official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

‘Declaration of War’

Kim Yo Jong, the sister of the North Korean leader, has warned that any attempt to intercept North Korea’s “tests of strategic weapon” would be considered a “declaration of war” against the reclusive nation.

“The demonstrative military moves and all sorts of rhetoric by the U.S. and South Korea, which go so extremely frantic as not to be overlooked, undoubtedly provide the DPRK with conditions for being forced to do something to cope with them,” she said.

A test-fire of a Hwasong-17 intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) at an undisclosed location in North Korea on March 24, 2022. Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP

The United States and South Korea have said that their military joint drills are defensive in nature, but North Korea regards them as “hostile acts.”

North Korea warned that an increased presence of U.S. strategic assets in the region will push the security situation to an “extreme red line.”

Price said the United States has offered to engage in direct talks with North Korea “without preconditions” for over a year, but North Korea rejected the U.S. diplomatic overtures and only responded with provocations.

“Our diplomatic overtures remain. We would like an opportunity to discuss these issues face-to-face if that’s the preference,” Price told reporters last week.

North Korea conducted a series of missile launches last year, including one involving its largest intercontinental ballistic missile, the Hwasong-17, all of which are banned under U.N. Security Council resolutions on North Korea’s missile program.