- The North increases its military capabilities amid the war with Iran, experts say.
- The ballistic missiles flew 140 kilometers in the fourth launch this month.
- Trump visits Asia in May, interested in meeting with Kim Jong Un.
North Korea fired ballistic missiles into the sea on Sunday, accelerating its missile launches amid war tensions with Iran and talks of possible meetings with the United States and South Korea.
Pyongyang’s intense missile activity – this was the fourth such launch this month and seventh of the year – is aimed at showcasing its self-defense capabilities while gaining international influence, some experts said.
“Missile launches can be a way to demonstrate that, unlike Iran, we have self-defense capabilities,” said former South Korean presidential security adviser Kim Ki-jung.
“The North also appears to be exerting preemptive pressure and making a show of force before engaging in dialogue with the United States and South Korea,” he said.
Iran war and Trump visit threaten launches
The seven-week war between the United States and Israel against Iran, which aims to curb Tehran’s nuclear program, could reinforce Pyongyang’s nuclear ambitions, experts and former South Korean officials say.
US President Donald Trump, who is preparing for a summit in China next month, and South Korean President Lee Jae Myung have repeatedly expressed interest in holding talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. There are no publicly known plans for any reunion.
Lee recently expressed regret to the North over drone raids from the South, drawing rare praise from Pyongyang.
Sunday’s missiles were fired from near the city of Sinpo, on North Korea’s east coast, into the sea around 6:10 a.m. local time and flew about 140 kilometers (90 miles), South Korea’s military said in a statement.
Japan’s government posted on social media that the missiles were believed to have landed near the east coast of the Korean Peninsula and that no incursion into Japan’s exclusive economic zone had been confirmed.
South Korea’s presidential Blue House called an emergency security meeting and called the launches a provocation that violated U.N. Security Council resolutions, according to media reports. He urged Pyongyang to “end provocative acts.”
It was unclear what type of ballistic missiles were fired, but Sinpo has submarines and equipment to test launch submarine-launched ballistic missiles. North Korea last fired a ballistic missile from a submarine in May 2022, flying up to 600 kilometers (370 miles).
North Korea has made “very serious” progress in its ability to produce nuclear weapons, with the likely addition of a new uranium enrichment facility, International Atomic Energy Agency chief Rafael Grossi said Wednesday.
In late March, North Korean leader Kim said Pyongyang’s status as a nuclear weapons state was irreversible and that expanding a “self-defense nuclear deterrent” was essential to national security.
