North Korea launched short-range missiles, US says

Launches were widely anticipated following joint US-South Korea military exercises.

Kim Jong-un launches a ground-breaking ceremony for a 10,000-unit apartment building in Pyongyang on Tuesday. Picture: Korean Central News Agency via AFP

North Korea launched several short-range missiles over the weekend, US officials said, in an show of defiance against President Joe Biden and his administration that was widely anticipated following joint US-South Korea military exercises.

The weekend launches caused no damage and are being viewed more as a symbolic threat than one intended to inflict damage or hit any specific targets, according to two US officials.

Earlier Tuesday, South Korean defence officials said they were monitoring unusual activity by North Korea’s military in a sector close to the South Korean border, while on Monday, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and Chinese leader Xi Jinping exchanged messages vowing unity amid rising US-China tensions.

North Korea frequently fired off short-range missiles even as Kim was negotiating with former president Donald Trump and his administration on a denuclearisation deal. Mr Trump maintained that the short-range missiles weren’t a violation of the terms laid out in his discussions with Pyongyang, which ultimately failed to yield an accord. CBS News first reported the missile launches.

The Biden administration plans a “new approach” on North Korea, State Department spokesman Ned Price has said. However, US relations with Beijing, a key interlocutor on Korea issues, are at an ebb, potentially complicating efforts to re-engage with Pyongyang.

“Kim Jong-un likes to be sure we’re paying attention to him and that we know he’s not happy with the administration and its activities,” said Anthony Ruggiero, former head of the National Security Council’s North Korea directorate under Mr Trump.

The North Koreans “want sanctions relief, they do not want to talk at this time,” said Mr Ruggiero, now a fellow at the Foundation for Defence of Democracies. “For the Biden administration, this suggests they need to accelerate their policy review and decide on how to respond. The last thing they want to do is conduct a policy review after a long-range missile launch.”

During a tour through Asia last week, Biden administration officials emphasised a need for unity among the US, South Korea and Japan against North Korea and China. Just after those visits, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan clashed with their Beijing counterparts over human rights and recent US sanctions on China.

For decades, both the US and China have opposed Pyongyang’s development of nuclear weapons and North Korea’s tendency to raise tensions on the Korean Peninsula through armed provocations.

Beijing and Pyongyang also have consistently protested US-led military exercises in the region. Washington and its allies have maintained those manoeuvres are defensive in nature, and designed to deter aggression from North Korea.

This month, the US and South Korea conducted annual defence exercises, which relied heavily on computer simulations to avoid provoking North Korea and to minimise the risk of spreading the coronavirus, according to senior South Korean officials.

Last week, Kim Yo-jong, the sister and senior aide to the North Korean leader, warned the US that if it “wants to sleep in peace for the coming four years, it had better refrain from causing a stink at its first step”.

Write The Wall Street Journal