SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea fired a barrage of short-range ballistic missiles into the sea on Tuesday, its neighbors said, as it continued its weapons demonstrations hours before the U.S. presidential election.
Japanese Defense Minister Gen Nakatani said at least seven North Korean missiles flew as far as 400 kilometers (250 miles) with a maximum altitude of 100 kilometers (60 miles). He said they landed in the waters between the Korean Peninsula and Japan.
“North Korea’s actions, including a series of repeated missile launches, threaten the peace and safety of Japan, the region and the international community,” Nakatani said.
South Korea’s military also detected several missile launches by North Korea and subsequently boosted its surveillance posture. The North Korean missiles could be used to target key facilities in South Korea, including U.S. military bases there.
The launches came days after North Korean leader Kim Jong Un supervised a flight test of the country’s newest intercontinental ballistic missile d esigned to reach the U.S. mainland. In response to that launch, the United States flew a long-range B-1B bomber in a trilateral drill with South Korea and Japan on Sunday in a show of force. That drew condemnation from Kim’s powerful sister Kim Yo Jong, who on Tuesday accused North Korea’s rivals of raising tensions with “aggressive and adventuristic military threats.”
South Korean officials have said that North Korea was likely to dial up its military displays around the U.S. presidential election to command the attention of Washington. South Korea’s military intelligence agency said last week that North Korea has also likely completed preparations for its seventh nuclear test.
Outside officials and analysts say North Korea eventually hopes to use an expanded nuclear arsenal as leverage to win concessions such as sanctions relief after a new U.S. president is elected.
There are widespread views that Kim Jong Un would prefer a win by Republican candidate Donald Trump, with whom he engaged in high-stakes nuclear diplomacy in 2018-19, seeing him as a more likely counterpart to give him what he wants than Democratic candidate Kamala Harris. During campaigning, Harris said she won’t “cozy up to tyrants and dictators like Kim Jong Un who are rooting for Trump.”
North Korea claimed that the Hwasong-19 it tested on Oct. 31 was “the world’s strongest” ICBM, but experts say the solid-fuel missile is too big to be useful in war. Experts say North Korea has yet to acquire some critical technologies to build a functioning ICBM, such as ensuring that the warhead survives the harsh conditions of atmospheric re-entry.
Tensions between the Koreas are at their highest point in years as Kim has repeatedly flaunted his expanding nuclear weapon and missile programs, while reportedly providing Russia with munitions and troops to support President Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine.
On Monday, U.S. State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller told reporters that as many as 10,000 North Korean soldiers were in Russia’s Kursk region near Ukraine’s border and were preparing to join Moscow’s fight against Ukraine in the coming days. If they engage in combat, it would be North Korea’s first participation in a large-scale conflict since the end of the 1950-53 Korean War.
