North Korea fires short-range missiles into East Sea just ahead of U.S. election

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North Korea fires short-range missiles into East Sea just ahead of U.S. election

Published: 05 Nov. 2024, 16:42 Updated: 05 Nov. 2024, 18:28

MICHAEL LEE
[email protected]

Democratic presidential nominee and Vice President Kamala Harris, left, speaks at a campaign rally in Charlotte, North Carolina, on Sept. 12. Republican presidential nominee and former President Donald Trump speaks a town hall campaign event in Warren, Michigan, on Sept. 27. [AP/YONHAP]

South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said North Korea fired multiple short-range ballistic missiles toward the East Sea on Tuesday, hours before polls open for the U.S. presidential election.

According to the JCS, the missiles were launched about 7:30 a.m. from Sariwon, North Hwanghae Province, near the southwestern coast of North Korea, and flew approximately 400 kilometers (249 miles) before landing in the East Sea.

Although the JCS did not say how many missiles were fired, it sent reporters a text message that it is “maintaining full readiness while closely sharing North Korean ballistic missile data with U.S. and Japanese authorities.”

The launches came five days after the North fired a new Hwasong-19 intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), which analysts believe has a range of up to 15,000 kilometers (9,320 miles) — enough to strike all of the mainland United States.

According to Hong Min, a senior researcher at the Korea Institute of National Unification, the missiles fired on Tuesday were likely KN-25 short-range tactical ballistic missiles based on their estimated range and trajectory.

People watch a television news report on the U.S. election at Seoul Station on Tuesday morning. [REUTERS/YONHAP]

Hong said the launches were likely intended as a “show of force” designed to “highlight rising tensions on the Korean Peninsula” to the next occupant of the White House and “elicit a different U.S. approach to North Korea.”

He added that the launches were also likely meant to underline the North’s strategy of “fighting perceived external threats with threats of its own.”

The launches took place hours before Americans begin casting their ballots at polling stations across the United States to choose between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump on Tuesday.

South Korean officials recently warned the North would likely stage demonstrations of its military capabilities close to the U.S. presidential election to draw Washington’s attention.

Last week, Seoul’s Defense Intelligence Agency said Pyongyang has also likely completed preparations for its seventh nuclear test.

Though the North has claimed it will not change its policy toward the United States regardless of who wins the White House race, observers believe Pyongyang could use its growing arsenal of illicit weapons to extract larger concessions from the eventual victor, including possibly sanctions relief.

In response to the ICBM launch, South Korea, the United States and Japan staged a joint air exercise involving a U.S. B-1B bomber east of Jeju Island on Sunday.

On Tuesday, Kim Yo-jong, the powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, issued a statement that claimed “the most hostile and dangerous aggressive nature” of the trilateral drill vindicates the regime’s push to further develop its nuclear forces.

The North Korean leader has also sought to break his regime’s isolation by lending munitions and troops to Russia and supporting President Vladimir Putin’s war against Ukraine.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, shakes hands with North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui during a meeting in Moscow, Russia, on Monday. [REUTERS/YONHAP]

According to the Russian state news agency TASS, Kremlin press secretary Dmitry Peskov said Putin met with North Korean foreign minister Choe Son-hui during her trip to Russia.

The news agency reported that Choe thanked Putin for meeting her and also conveyed Kim’s greetings to Putin.

The timing of Choe’s visit to Russia has aroused speculation that Pyongyang and Moscow could be coordinating their response to Western and South Korean backlash to the deployment of North Korean troops to Russia, where they have begun to amass near Ukraine.

BY MICHAEL LEE [[email protected]]