South Korea’s military detected the launch from the North’s eastern Wonsan coastal region at 10:48 a.m. local time, South Korea’s General Staff said in a statement. It said South Korea has stepped up its surveillance of North Korea while maintaining military readiness and close coordination with the United States. It was North Korea’s first ballistic missile launch in eight days and the latest in its barrage of tests in recent months. North Korea has previously said some of the tests were simulations of nuclear attacks on South Korean and US targets. Many experts say North Korea would eventually like to boost its nuclear capability to extract greater concessions from its rivals. Earlier Thursday, North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son Hue warned that a recent US-South Korea-Japan deal would leave tensions on the Korean Peninsula “more unpredictable.” Choe’s statement was North Korea’s first official response to President Joe Biden’s trilateral summit with his South Korean and Japanese counterparts in Cambodia on Sunday. In their joint statement, the three leaders strongly condemned North Korea’s recent missile tests and agreed to work together to strengthen deterrence. At the summit, President Biden reaffirmed his commitment to defend South Korea and Japan with a full range of capabilities, including nuclear weapons. Choe said the more the US and its allies “step up provocative and bluffing military activities … the more ferocious [North Korea’s] there will be a military counterattack.” “The US will be well aware that they are taking a gamble that they will surely regret.” North Korea has consistently maintained that its recent weapons tests are legitimate military responses to what it calls military exercises between US and South Korean forces, which it sees as a precursor to an invasion. Washington and Seoul have said their drills are defensive in nature. In recent months, South Korean and US troops have expanded their regular exercises and resumed trilateral training with Japan in response to North Korea’s push to expand its nuclear and missile arsenals. There have been concerns that North Korea may conduct its first nuclear test in five years as the next step in bolstering its military capability against the United States and its allies. US and South Korean officials say North Korea has completed preparations to conduct a nuclear test explosion at a remote test facility. Some experts say the test, if carried out, would be used to develop nuclear warheads to be mounted on short-range missiles capable of hitting key targets in South Korea, including US military bases. They say North Korea will eventually seek to use its enhanced arsenal as leverage to pressure the United States into making concessions in future negotiations.
