North Korea launches two short-range ballistic missiles

North Korea launched ballistic missiles known as a “North Korean version of the Iskander,” which were developed to neutralize the intercepting missile network of South Korea and the U.S. again on Wednesday. It’s been six days since the regime launched the missiles of the same type on Thursday. It appears that Pyongyang launched the missiles on a rainy day to show off its capability to launch missiles to South Korea, regardless of weather conditions.

“Two short-range ballistic missiles launched from the Wonsan-Kalma area towards northeast were identified at 5:06 a.m. and 5:27 a.m., respectively,” said the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff on Wednesday. The two missiles traveled about 250 kilometers and landed into the East Sea. Their peak altitude was about 30 kilometers, much lower than the six Iskander missiles launched by Pyongyang since May.

It should be noted that the Cheongju Air Force Base is located 270 kilometers away from the Kalma area from which the most recent two missiles were launched. The airbase is where four stealth fighters, F-35A, have been deployed at since early this year.

“Seoul is obtaining advanced attack weapons. We will soon destroy them into scrap metal,” said Pyongyang on the day after its missile launch on last Thursday, implying that its missiles targeted F-35A. Experts say that the reason why North Korea set the target that is 250 kilometers away for the missiles launched on Wednesday is to stress that the Cheongju Air Force Base could be targeted too if the direction is turned southward. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is known to have observed the recent test missile launches.

South Korean presidential office Cheong Wa Dae strongly condemned North Korea’s missile provocations on Wednesday by convening a National Security Council (NSC) meeting presided over by National Security Office Director Chung Eui-yong at 11 a.m., just five hours after the missile launches. “The standing members of the NSC expressed a deep concern that the incident could have a negative impact on the efforts to build peace on the Korean Peninsula,” said a Cheong Wa Dae official.


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