North Korea Fires 3 Projectiles Confirms South Korea

Inspite of Coronavirus crisis, North Korea seems stubborn in its habit to play with explosives, recently it has test-fired three unidentified projectiles into the sea, which is the second such weapons test by Pyongyang in a week.

According to South Korea, the three devices were fired towards the northeastern direction from the Sondok area in the South Hamgyong province of North Korea. South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement, “The military is monitoring for additional launches and maintaining readiness,” without giving further details.

Meanwhile, a spokesman at the Defence Ministry of Japan said, North Korea launched missiles, which appears to be ballistic missiles, adding that there has been no indication of anything coming into the territory of Japan or its exclusive economic zone.

According to analysts, North Korea has been continuing to refine its weapons capabilities during its long-pending nuclear discussions with the United States, which have been on hold since the collapse of the Hanoi summit between the two leaders Kim Jong Un and US President Donald Trump more than a year ago.

Ankit Panda, a senior fellow associated with the Federation of American Scientists, tweeted “three projectiles fired successfully from a single Transporter Erector Launcher (TEL) would be a new milestone for the North's short-range ballistic missile programme.”

On the other hand analyst, Vipin Narang of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology wrote, “Kim continues to test, improve, and operationalize his force.”

North Korea’s state media after the missile test last week said: “Kim had overseen a long-range artillery drill, carrying images of multiple launch rocket systems and several of a larger calibre rocket being fired in a forest”.

South Korea though has said that the launch appeared to be two short-range ballistic missiles, which are banned for testing under UN Security Council resolutions.

Amidst all these, North Korea also offered comfort to South Korea. Kim has sent a personal letter to the South Korean President Moon Jae-in, offering comfort for the outbreak of the new coronavirus in the country.

South Korea is the second country in the world with the coronavirus infection cases next only to China with more than 7,300 people infected, while North Korea still insists it has not a single case of coronavirus infection. 

North Korea has carried out a series of weapons tests last year, last of them in the month of November, which it described as the multiple launch rocket systems, though others called them ballistic missiles. It has also conducted static engine tests, most recently in the month of December.

North Korea has also threatened to demonstrate a “new strategic weapon” soon. Though it is under multiple sanctions for its weapons programmes from the United Nations Security Council, US, South Korea, and other countries.

After heightened tensions between the US and North Korea in 2017, two years of nuclear diplomacy followed between Pyongyang and Washington, which include three meetings between Kim and US President Donald Trump, though they made tangible progress.