North Korea fired two cruise missiles into the West Sea on the 17th, the 100th day after the inauguration of President Yun Seok-yeol. It has been two days since President Yoon announced his ‘bold initiative’ to give drastic compensation in response to North Korea’s denuclearization in his congratulatory speech on August 15th. It seems to be a reaction against the beginning of the pre-rehearsal of the U.S.-Korea joint exercise (UFS, Ulchi Freedom Shield).
A military official said on the same day, “This morning, North Korea detected two cruise missiles fired from Oncheon in South Pyongan Province into the West Sea.” The ROK and US military authorities are analyzing detailed specifications such as flight distance. This is North Korea’s first missile launch in more than two months since June 5. It is the second time since January 25 of this year that a cruise missile has been launched.
Earlier, on the 15th, President Yoon proposed a ‘bold initiative’, a large-scale economic support measure on the premise of denuclearization of North Korea. The main focus is on large-scale food supply, power generation/transmission and distribution infrastructure support, port and airport modernization, agricultural technology support, hospital and medical infrastructure support, and international investment and financial support. However, security measures for North Korea were not included.
Cho Hye-sun, reporter for Donga.com hs87cho@donga.com