The South Korean news agency Yonhap announced that the North Korean army had launched a second “ballistic missile” on Wednesday, minutes after it announced, quoting the chief of staff of the South Korean armed forces, that Pyongyang had fired an “unidentified ballistic missile” towards the East Sea.
These two new missile tests come after US President Joe Biden completed a trip to the region, which included South Korea and Japan.
Since the beginning of the year, Pyongyang has stepped up its missile tests, despite the international sanctions imposed on it.
During his visit to South Korea, Biden held talks with his new colleague, Yoon Seok-yeol, during which both stressed the need to intensify military exercises to counter threats from the North.
On the last day of his visit to North Korea, Biden told reporters that he only had one message for North Korean leader Kim Jong-un: “Hello. Dot on the line.
But the US president stressed that his country is “ready to resist everything that North Korea does.”
The North Korean threat overshadowed Biden’s first trip to Asia since taking power in early 2021, especially as a senior US official warned that Pyongyang could use the visit to test a missile or even an atomic bomb.
The US warning came after South Korean intelligence announced that North Korea had completed preparations for a new nuclear test.
To date, Pyongyang has conducted six nuclear tests, the last of which was five years ago.
In March, North Korea launched an intercontinental ballistic missile.
And recently, satellite images showed that North Korea, after a long pause, resumed the construction of a nuclear reactor.
