- The North is strengthening its military capabilities amid the Iran war, experts say.
- The ballistic missiles traveled 140 km during their 4th launch this month.
- Trump visiting Asia in May, interested in meeting Kim Jong Un.
North Korea fired ballistic missiles into the sea on Sunday, accelerating its missile launches amid tensions over the war in Iran and discussions over possible meetings with the United States and South Korea.
Pyongyang’s intense ballistic activity – it is the fourth such launch this month and the seventh this year – aims to demonstrate its self-defense capabilities while gaining international influence, some experts said.
“The missile launches could be a way to show that, unlike Iran, we have self-defense capabilities,” said former South Korean presidential security adviser Kim Ki-jung.
“The North also appears to be exerting preemptive pressure and a show of force before engaging in dialogue with the United States and South Korea,” he said.
Iran war and Trump visit threaten launches
The seven-week-old US-Israeli war with Iran, one of whose aims is to curb Tehran’s nuclear program, could strengthen Pyongyang’s nuclear ambitions, experts and former South Korean officials say.
U.S. President Donald Trump, who is preparing for a summit in China next month, and South Korean President Lee Jae Myung have repeatedly expressed interest in holding talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. There are no public plans for the meeting.
Lee recently expressed regret to the North over drone incursions from the South, receiving rare praise from Pyongyang.
Sunday’s missiles were fired from near the town of Sinpo on North Korea’s east coast toward the sea around 6:10 a.m. local time and traveled about 140 km (90 miles), the South Korean military said in a statement.
The Japanese government posted on social media that the missiles were believed to have fallen near the eastern coast of the Korean Peninsula and that no incursions into Japan’s exclusive economic zone have been confirmed.
South Korea’s presidential Blue House called an emergency security meeting, calling the launches a provocation that violates UN Security Council resolutions, according to media reports. He urged Pyongyang to “end provocative acts.”
It is unclear exactly what types of ballistic missiles were fired, but Sinpo has submarines and equipment to test firing ballistic missiles launched from submarines. The North last fired a ballistic missile from a submarine in May 2022, and it traveled up to 600 km (370 miles).
North Korea has made “very serious” progress in its ability to produce nuclear weapons, with the likely addition of a new uranium enrichment facility, International Atomic Energy Agency chief Rafael Grossi said Wednesday.
In late March, North Korean leader Kim said Pyongyang’s status as a nuclear-armed state was irreversible and that developing a “self-defense nuclear deterrent” was essential to national security.
