North Korea Launches Short-Range Missiles: Tensions Rise on Korean Peninsula

2023-06-15 14:12:26

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Japan’s coast guard has asked ships to be vigilant and not approach any objects that have fallen into the sea.

15/6/2023

Tensions on the Korean peninsula do not decrease, in the last hours, North Korean military authorities launched two short-range missiles towards the Sea of ​​Japan, in response to the joint military exercises between the United States and South Korea carried out in recent days.

The Joint Chiefs of Staff of South Korea has indicated that the launch has taken place as a warning before what has been the largest joint military exercise by Seoul and Washington in the vicinity, which has included live fire and has had the supervision of the South Korean president, Yoon Suk Yeol.

The Japanese Ministry of Defense, for its part, has confirmed the launch and has qualified that the country remains “alert” to the possibility of more tests of this type. The ministry announced that the country’s coast guard has asked ships to be vigilant and not approach any objects that have fallen into the sea.

“We have intensified monitoring in case of further provocations and are maintaining the readiness in close coordination with the United States,” the Seoul Joint Chiefs of Staff added. In addition, South Korean forces continue to carry out operations to seize the remains of the satellite that North Korea launched at the end of May and which fell into the sea due to a technical problem.

Thus, a spokesman for the North Korean Ministry of Defense has indicated that “U.S. forces and the South Korean Army are conducting live-fire annihilation exerciseswith North Korean targets and deploying numerous types of equipment”, as reported by the state news agency KCNA.

“Our Armed Forces will completely counteract any form of provocation by our enemies,” he stressed.

The last launch of a missile of this type by North Korea took place on April 13, although the numbers of ballistic tests carried out this year have been historic.

Nuclear arsenal of several countries increases amid tension

The nuclear arsenals of several countries, especially China, grew last year and other atomic powers continued to modernize theirs, amid increased geopolitical tension, specialists warned on Monday.

The nine countries that possess nuclear weapons jointly spent $82.9 billion on their arsenals last yearof which more than half corresponded to the United States, according to a report by the International Campaign for the Abolition of Nuclear Weapons (ICAN).

The total number of nuclear warheads among the nine atomic powers (United Kingdom, China, France, India, Israel, North Korea, Pakistan, Russia and the United States) fell to 12,512 at the beginning of 2023, once morest 12,710 at the beginning of 2022, according to the SIPRI.

Companies involved in the production of nuclear weapons won new contracts worth just under $16 billion in 2022. Globally, nuclear powers have signed contracts worth at least $278.6 billion with companies for the production of these types of weapons.

SIPRI researchers also noted that diplomatic arms control and disarmament efforts have suffered setbacks following the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

With information from AFP and Europa Press*

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