NewsNorth Korea launches missiles as tensions rise before US elections

North Korea launches missiles as tensions rise before US elections

North Korea launched a volley of short-range ballistic missiles on Wednesday morning local time, the South Korean military reported. "The series of Pyongyang's provocative acts came amid lingering concerns that the recalcitrant regime could engage in major provocations to bolster its leverage ahead of the Nov. 5 presidential election in the United States," assessed the South Korean Yonhap news agency.

Kim Jong Un
Kim Jong Un
Images source: © East News | STR
Tomasz Waleński

18 September 2024 08:21

The South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) reported that around 6:50 AM local time on Wednesday (11:50 PM Tuesday Greenwich Mean Time), it detected the launch of North Korean short-range ballistic missiles from the Kaechon area in South Pyongan province, about 70 kilometres north of Pyongyang.

JCS stated that the missiles flew approximately 400 kilometres in a north-easterly direction but did not provide further details such as the number of missiles launched or the target area.

The missile launches were also confirmed by Japan.

"We strongly condemn North Korea's missile launches that are clear acts of provocation seriously threatening peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula," JCS said in a statement quoted by Yonhap.

Pyongyang enriches uranium

Last Friday, September 13th, North Korea revealed for the first time a military-purpose uranium enrichment facility. This occurred a day after launching several short-range ballistic missiles towards the East Sea. State media reported at that time that a new Hwasong-11Da4.5 missile was tested at its maximum and minimum range, adding that it is capable of carrying a 4.5-tonne "super-large warhead."

Yonhap news agency pointed out that the intensification of Kim Jong Un's regime's "provocative" actions is seen as a show of strength ahead of the US presidential elections scheduled for November 5th and an attempt to raise the stakes in the next round of negotiations with Washington.

Related content
© Daily Wrap
·

Downloading, reproduction, storage, or any other use of content available on this website—regardless of its nature and form of expression (in particular, but not limited to verbal, verbal-musical, musical, audiovisual, audio, textual, graphic, and the data and information contained therein, databases and the data contained therein) and its form (e.g., literary, journalistic, scientific, cartographic, computer programs, visual arts, photographic)—requires prior and explicit consent from Wirtualna Polska Media Spółka Akcyjna, headquartered in Warsaw, the owner of this website, regardless of the method of exploration and the technique used (manual or automated, including the use of machine learning or artificial intelligence programs). The above restriction does not apply solely to facilitate their search by internet search engines and uses within contractual relations or permitted use as specified by applicable law.Detailed information regarding this notice can be found  here.