The launch of these missiles occurs at the end of a year during which North Korea has multiplied in an unprecedented manner the demonstrations of force. The United States and South Korea have warned for months that Pyongyang is preparing to carry out its seventh nuclear test.
MO12345lemonde with AFP
North Korea shot two ballistic missiles, Friday, December 23, said the South Korean army, these are the latest shots of a recent series.
“Our soldiers have spotted two short -range ballistic missiles launched by North Korea in the East Sea from the Sunan area in Pyongyang around 4:32 p.m. [8 h 32, Paris time] today “Said the South Korean joint staff, referring to the sea also known as the sea of Japan. “Our army maintains a full availability posture”, cooperates “closely with the United States” and strengthens “vigilance”.
The launch of these missiles occurs at the end of a year during which North Korea has multiplied arms tests in an unprecedented way. The United States and South Korea have warned for months that Pyongyang is about to carry out his seventh nuclear test.
Kim Yo-Jong, the powerful sister of the North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, insisted earlier this week on the fact that North Korea had developed advanced technologies to take images from space to The help of a spy satellite.
The United States and South Korea organized a joint air exercise on Tuesday and deployed an American strategic bomber B-52h in the Korean peninsula, the South Korean jokes in a statement announced. The long-range heavy bomber was part of an exercise that included the most advanced military planes in the United States and South Korea, including fu-22 and F-35 furtive hunters.
Arsenal of intercontinental ballistic missiles
The launch carried out on Friday took place a few hours after the White House said that Pyongyang had delivered weapons to the Russian private military group Wagner. In a statement taken up by the state agency KCNA, the North Korean foreign ministry denied any transaction of arms with Russia, saying that this story had been “invented by certain dishonest forces”.
Despite the heavy international sanctions that weigh on its arms programs, Pyongyang has built an important arsenal of intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM). All its ballistic missiles listed are however with liquid fuel. Kim Jong-un considers a strategic priority the development of solid fuel engines in order to manufacture more advanced missiles.
Liquid fuel rockets are known to be difficult to operate and they require a long time of preparation for takeoff, making them slower and, for the enemy, easier to spot and destroy. Solid, easier and mobile fuel missiles require less preparation time and are more difficult to detect before their fire.
Among the objectives unveiled in 2021 by Kim Jong-un is the development of solid fuel ICBM which could be launched from dry land or from submarines. The North Korean leader also declared in 2022 that he wanted his country to hold the most powerful nuclear force in the world, qualifying in September “irreversible” the status of nuclear power of Pyongyang.
North Korea has been under multiple sanctions from the UN Security Council about its nuclear program and missiles since 2006.