North Korea fires two suspected short-range ballistic missiles

A railway-born missile is launched during firing drills, according to state media, at an unidentified location in North Korea, in this photo released Jan 14, 2022 by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency KCNA Photo: KCNA via Reuters North Korea fires two ballistic missiles from Pyongyang Airport, South Korea says.

North Korea fired two suspected short-range ballistic missiles from an airport in its capital city of Pyongyang, South Korea's military reported, the fourth test this month to demonstrate its expanding missile arsenal.

Japan also reported on the launch, with chief cabinet secretary Hirokazu Matsuno condemning it as a threat to peace and security, while China urged all sides to preserve stability.

Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian told a daily briefing in Beijing when asked about the suspected launch that the relevant sides should keep in mind the peace and stability on the peninsula.

North Korea had already conducted three other missile tests in less than two weeks, an unusually rapid series of launches. Two of the two involved single hypersonic missiles capable of high speed and manoeuvring after launch, while a test on Friday involved a pair of short-range ballistic missiles SRBMs fired from train cars.

Two SRBMs fired east from Sunan Airfield in Pyongyang appeared to be involved in the launch, South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff JCS said in a statement.

North Korea used the airport to test fire the Hwasong 12 intermediate-range ballistic missile IRBM in 2017 with leader Kim Jong Un in attendance.

The JCS said on Monday that the missiles fired on Monday travelled 380 km to a maximum altitude of 42 km.

Japanese Defence Minister Nobuo Kishi said the missiles appeared to have landed in the ocean near North Korea's east coast.

The aim of North Korea's frequent missile launches is to improve their missile technology, he told reporters.

The United Nations Security Council resolutions bans North Korea from all ballistic missile development has resulted in a grave problem for the international community, including Japan.

The United States military's Indo-Pacific Command said the launch did not pose an immediate threat to the United States or its allies, but these missile launches highlight the destabilizing impact of North Korea's weapons programme, and helps reinforce its deterrent credibility by highlighting the volume of its missile force, said Mason Richey, a professor at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies in Seoul.

North Korea hasn't tested its long-range intercontinental ballistic missiles ICBMs or nuclear weapons since 2017, but after denuclearisation talks stalled in 2019, it began unveiling and testing a range of new SRBM designs.

Many of the newest SRBMs, including the hypersonic missiles, appear to have been designed to evade missile defences. North Korea has vowed to use tactical nuclear weapons, which could allow it to deploy nuclear warheads on SRBMs.

Richey said that the US has failed to make North Korea pay enough cost for short-range missile programme development because of every missile launch flaunts how little sanctions have constrained the Kim regime.

The US administration has recently imposed new sanctions over North Korea's missile launches and is pushing for more, which has drawn condemnation and an appeal for dialogue.

President Joe Biden called for the UN Security Council to blacklist several North Korean individuals and entities after imposing its first new sanctions on Pyongyang on Wednesday. It called on North Korea to return to talks aimed at reducing tension and persuading it to surrender its arsenal of nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles.

North Korea defended the missile tests as its sovereign right to self-defence and accused the United States of intentionally intensifying its confrontation with new sanctions.

In a statement before Friday's missile tests, the North Korean foreign ministry said that although the United States might talk of diplomacy and dialogue, it showed that it was still engrossed in its policy of isolating and stifling North Korea.

After Monday's test, the national security council of South Korea held an emergency meeting with members stressing that it is important to start dialogue as soon as possible in order for the situation on the Korean Peninsula to not become more strained and to restore stability, the presidential Blue House said in a statement.

The envoys of South Korea, the United States and Japan held a phone call and reviewed the latest test, during which they agreed to continue cooperation for a restart of talks, Seoul's foreign ministry said.

North Korea, more isolated than ever because of self-imposed border closures aimed at preventing a COVID 19 epidemic, appeared to be about to open some trade along its land border with China.

Chinese foreign ministry said on Monday that freight trains connecting China and North Korea had resumed for the first time since a 2020 coronaviruses border lockdown.

A Beijing-based nuclear policy expert at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Zhao Tong said that North Korea had few reasons to back off its missile development.

He said that Kim appeared to have little hope of a breakthrough with the United States, and China's sympathy for North Korea and antipathy towards the United States could encourage North Korea to think that China was unlikely to support any effort by the international community to censure it for the tests.

Zhao said that North Korea may think this is a safe time to advance its missile development.

Last week, China criticised the new US sanctions but also called on all sides to act prudently and engage in dialogue to reduce tensions.