South Korea: North Korea launches rocket in mid-Ukraine crisis

Today’s North Korean missile launch is “sad” at a time when the international community is working to resolve the crisis in Ukraine, South Korea’s National Security Council said, urging the neighboring country to return to the negotiating table.

Earlier, the South Korean military said North Korea had probably fired a “ballistic missile” (initially reported as an “unidentified missile”) to the east and that it had fallen into the sea. According to the same source, the launch took place from a location near the Sunan area, where Pyongyang International Airport is located. Short-range ballistic missiles were reportedly fired from the same area on 16 January.

Japanese Defense Minister Nobuo Kisi said the North Korean missile could have flown up to 600 kilometers. “There have been several launches since the beginning of the year and North Korea is still rapidly developing ballistic missile technology,” he said in a televised statement. “North Korea has threatened the security of Japan, the wider region and the international community,” he said.

Pyongyang’s last missile test was on January 30, when it launched a medium-range Hwasong-12 ballistic missile.

Missile test amid election campaign in South Korea and Russian invasion of Ukraine

Today’s rocket launch came less than two weeks before South Korea’s March 9 presidential election amid fears in Seoul and Tokyo that Pyongyang could make progress on its missile program as the international community turns its attention to Russian invasion of Ukraine.

“This launch took place while the international community is focusing on the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the fact that North Korea is taking advantage of this situation, this is something we can not tolerate,” said the Japanese Foreign Minister.

Conservative South Korean presidential candidate Yoon Sook-Yeol warned last week that North Korea could see the Ukrainian crisis as “an opportunity for its own challenge.”

However, analysts say that even before the Russian invasion of Ukraine, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un had conducted a series of missile tests, as talks with the United States and its allies had frozen.

North Korea, which has close ties to China, did not conduct missile tests during the Beijing Winter Olympics. The Winter Paralympic Games start on Friday.

According to Professor Leaf-Eric Isley at Seoul’s Ewha University, “North Korea is not going to do anyone any favors and keep quiet while the world is busy with the Russian attack on Ukraine.”

There was no immediate US response, either from the State Department or the Pentagon, to North Korea’s latest missile test. Washington has said it is open to dialogue with North Korea without preconditions, but Pyongyang has so far refused, citing insincere proposals.

North Korea launches ballistic missiles in violation of UN Security Council resolutions imposing sanctions on Pyongyang over its missile and nuclear program.

In its first statement since the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the North Korean Foreign Ministry shared an analyst statement that the US is the “primary cause” of the crisis, noting that it seeks unilateral sanctions and pressure, while ignoring Russia’s demands for providing security guarantees.

Source: AMPE