North Korea sends chilling warning to world as ballistic missiles deployed | World | News
South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff confirmed that the launches took place on Sunday morning from the Sinpo region, an eastern coastal region where a major North Korean shipyard used for submarine construction is located. The South Korean military announced that it has strengthened surveillance operations and maintains close communication with both the United States and Japan.
South Korea’s presidential office announced that the National Security Council intends to hold an emergency meeting regarding the launches.
Japan’s Ministry of Defense also detected the missile launches, reporting that the missiles were believed to have landed in the waters off North Korea’s eastern coastline.
Tokyo lodged a strong protest with Pyongyang, saying Sunday’s launches posed a threat to regional and international stability and were in direct violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions banning North Korea from carrying out any ballistic activities.
Last week, North Korea announced that leader Kim Jong Un had supervised missile tests of the country’s destroyer. The previous week, North Korea claimed to have conducted a three-day test to evaluate ballistic missiles with cluster bomb warheads, among other new weapons systems.
Last month, it announced that it was testing a solid-fuel engine developed for missiles that could hit the US mainland.
Since his high-stakes nuclear diplomacy with the US President Donald Trump After collapsing in 2019, Kim focused on strengthening his nuclear and missile capabilities.
Trump has repeatedly expressed his desire to revive diplomatic relations with Kim, and the North Korean leader recently left the door ajar for dialogue with Trump while urging Washington to abandon its demands for North Korea to denuclearize as a precondition for talks.
On Wednesday, International Atomic Energy Agency Director-General Rafael Grossi confirmed there has been a “rapid increase” in activity at nuclear production facilities in North Korea. Speaking to journalists in Seoul, Grossi stated that the activities in North Korea indicate a “very serious increase” in its nuclear weapons production capacity.
His remarks reinforced the widely held view among outside observers that North Korea has taken significant steps in recent years to expand its major Yongbyon nuclear complex and build additional uranium enrichment sites.
Last September, South Korean Unification Minister Chung Dong-young announced that North Korea operates four uranium enrichment facilities and that all of them operate on a daily basis.
