North Korea launched an ICBM this week as a warning against continued US-South Korea military exercises, state media said on Friday.
The missile, launched on Thursday, was intended to “give a stronger warning to enemies by intentionally increasing tension,” according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).
US-SOUTH KOREA EXERCISES DISCOURAGE NORTH KOREA, PENTAGON TAKES UP HOURS AFTER NORTH KOREA LAUNCH ICBM
A television screen at Yongsan Railway Station shows a news report of North Korea’s long-range ballistic missile launch on March 16, 2023. (Kim Jae-Hwan/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
It was the second ICBM launched by North Korea this year, and it was launched just hours before South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol was to meet with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.
The aggressive escalation brings attention to US messages on the North Korean issue.
USE OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS WOULD BE THE ‘END OF THE NORTH KOREAN REGIME’, PENTAGON WARNS
In this photo provided by the North Korean government, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and his daughter inspect what is said to be a gunnery exercise in an undisclosed location in North Korea on Thursday, March 9, 2023. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP)
The Department of Defense it said on Thursday that its frequent joint military exercises with South Korea continue to deter North Korean attacks.
“I think what’s important for people to understand is, one, deterrence continues to work,” Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder told reporters at a daily Department of Defense news conference.
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People stand near a television broadcasting news footage of a North Korean missile test, at a train station in Seoul on March 14, 2023. (ANTHONY WALLACE/AFP via Getty Images)
“Despite firing missiles into the ocean, North Korea is not attacking, nor should it be, and that the United States, Japan, South Korea and other allies and partners in the region will continue to work together to expand that deterrence and maintain our countries safe,” said Ryder.
