Five days following the start of a new year, North Korea launched a new, unidentified projectile into the sea, South Korea and Japan announced on Wednesday (Jan.5) – the first such test carried out by Pyongyang in 2022.
According to the South Korean military, North Korea fired what is “Presumed to be a ballistic missile” in the sea located to the east of the peninsula (Sea of Japan, or East Sea according to the Korean designation) at around 8 a.m. (12:10 a.m. French time). “South Korean and American intelligence services are analyzing it carefully for more details”South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff also said in a statement.
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida spoke of a “Possible ballistic missile launch” without failing to regret that “North Korea has launched missiles continuously since last year”. Mr Kishida told reporters that the Japanese government was also analyzing the details, including the number of missiles that may have been launched.
“No damage reported”
“No damage has been reported to Japanese planes and ships so far”, also clarified the spokesman of the Japanese government, Hirokazu Matsuno, adding that the projectile seemed to have “Traveled regarding 500 kilometers and fell outside the exclusive economic zone of Japan”.
The year 2021 was marked by major advances in armaments for North Korea, which claimed to have successfully tested a new type of ballistic missile launched from a submarine, a long-range cruise missile and a weapon launched by a train and which it declared to be a hypersonic warhead. This new attempt comes as Pyongyang has not responded to Washington’s offer to meet with US officials to negotiate.
Discussions with the United States have stalled since the failure, in 2019, of the meeting between Kim Jong-un and Donald Trump, then President of the United States. Since Joe Biden came to power a year ago, the United States has repeatedly declared its readiness to meet with North Korean officials. But Pyongyang has so far rejected the offer, accusing Washington of carrying out policies. “Hostile”.
Economic development and food security
In a speech last week following a plenary meeting of the Workers’ Party, Kim Jong-un said he wanted to continue his weapons program, not to mention the United States. Unlike in previous years, when his New Year’s address focused on foreign policy, the leader made economic development and the food situation his priority, simply stating that he kept in mind “The military environment on the Korean peninsula” and the international situation.
“Pyongyang sends the message to the United States that it will not change and that it is up to Washington to give in”, explained Shin Beom-chul, a researcher at the Korea National Strategy Research Institute. The North Korean regime, which is under international sanctions for its banned military programs, suffers from food shortages.
The pressure on its economy has been heightened by the orderly border closures to combat the pandemic, but that has not stopped Pyongyang from expanding its weapons program, according to a United Nations report released in October. The North Korean leader admitted in June that his country was facing a “Tense food situation”. In October, a UN human rights expert warned that the most vulnerable were “Threatened with famine”.