North Korea launches third missile test and reaffirms that it will not give up its “right to defend itself”

According to sources in the South Korean army, North Korea shot two new ones this Friday missiles ballistic. This marks the third trial by Pyongyang since the start of 2022, despite new sanctions from U.S.

These launches come after the United States imposed new sanctions on Pyongyang this week, which then responded that it will never renounce its “right to defend oneself”.

Friday’s short-range ballistic missiles were launched in the eastern direction of the Korean peninsula, said the chiefs of the General Staff of South Korea.

The launches took place at 2:41 p.m. and 2:52 p.m. (5:41 a.m. and 5:52 a.m. GMT), and the missiles traveled a distance of 432 km at a height of 36 km, they said.

The South Korean Security Council “lament“This essay that”does not contribute to stability on the Korean Peninsula at this critical time”.

In Tokyo, Japanese Defense Minister Nobuo Kishi said that the projectiles fell outside Japan’s exclusive economic zone. These repeated trials show that Pyongyang “Seeks to improve its launch technologies”, He assured.

Despite international sanctions on its weapons and nuclear program, Pyongyang has carried out two tests of suspected hypersonic missiles in recent days, on January 5 and 11.

After the second trial, personally supervised by the North Korean leader Kim Jong UnThe United States imposed additional sanctions on five people linked to the North Korean ballistics program.

A spokesman for the North Korean Foreign Ministry accused Washington of being rid of a “intentional escalationAbout this situation.

And “The United States adopts a confrontational stance, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea will be forced to take a stronger and more assertive reaction”, Said the spokesman in comments collected by the official KCNA agency on Friday before the shooting.

North Korea has “legitimate right“To develop new weapons within the framework of its process of”modernization of its national defense capabilities“Added the spokesman.

A “Worrying situation”

Yang Moo-jin, a professor at the University of North Korean Studies, told AFP that the time chosen to carry out these tests is “worrying”.

“The situation is worrying. North Korea fired this shot immediately after releasing a statement in which it assured that does not renounce his’ right to defend himself’Yang said.

“The message is very clear. North Korea is not going to give up anything when it comes to its weapons, and this despite the new sanctionss “, added the analyst.

The new essay “was carried out quickly to show America that tit-for-tat, tooth-for-tooth policy will be enforced after sanctions”From Washington, said Cheong Seong-chang, director of the Center for North Korean Studies at the Sejong Institute.

On Thursday, the US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, urged North Korea to negotiate with the United States, a country that, according to him, does not feed any “hostile intentionTowards the Kim Jong Un regime.

Negotiations over North Korea’s nuclear program have been stalled since the failure of the historic 2018-2019 summits between then-US President Donald Trump and the North Korean leader.

Pyongyang has resumed ballistic missile testing in recent months, with several launches since September.

The government of the current president Joe Biden has repeatedly expressed its willingness to meet with North Korean emissaries, but Pyongyang rejected the offer, accusing the United States of pursuing a policy “hostile”.