Tag: North Korea

North Korea has commented for the first time about the Russian invasion of Ukraine and it is about what you would expect, Russia has done nothing wrong and it is all the U.S.’s fault:

North Korea spoke on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine for the first time three days after the first attack. North Korea defended Russia and criticized the United States. However, Pyongyang did not specifically mention the details of Russia’s invasion and did not voice its views in an official statement released by the government, but instead released a comment by a researcher at the Society for International Politics Studies, implying the North’s complicated calculations behind the latest incident.

On February 26, the North Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs released on its website a post arguing that the U.S. should not tear down the foundation of international peace and stability in the name of Ri Ji-song, a researcher at the Society for International Politics Studies. Ri wrote that in every region and country that the U.S. intervened in, seeds of discord were being sowed and relationships between nations were deteriorating. He argued that this trend was being established like a principle and that this was the current international order. He further criticized, “The root cause of the Ukrainian crisis also lies in the high-handedness and arbitrariness of the U.S. which has held on solely to the unilateral sanction and pressure while pursuing only global hegemony and military supremacy in disregard of the legitimate demand of Russia for its security.” Ri cited comments by global media and experts and claimed it was no coincidence that they found the fundamental reason for the Ukrainian crisis in the “imbalance of power in Europe due to the unilateral expansion of NATO and its threat as well as the grave threat to the national security of Russia.”

Kyunghyang Shinmun

You can read more at the link, but notably no where in the statement does North Korea actually mention that Ukraine was invaded by Russia.

The North Koreans are claiming that they are restarting their space launch program by launching a reconnaissance satellite:

North Korea conducted an “important test” of a “reconnaissance satellite” to verify the capabilities of its high-definition photographing and data-transmission systems, its state-run news agency said Monday. 

The country’s aerospace and military science organizations conducted the test, according to the Korean Central News Agency. KCNA’s report did not include photographs of the launch but had pictures of Earth from space that it said were taken by cameras “loaded on the reconnaissance satellite.”

“The test is of great significance in developing the reconnaissance satellite,” KCNA claimed in its report.

The communist regime on Sunday launched what South Korea’s military believes was a ballistic missile off its eastern coast around 7:52 a.m. The missile, according to the South’s military, flew about 186 miles at a peak altitude of 385 miles. The Japan Coast Guard also confirmed the launch and its specifications.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link.

The Kim regime appears to have waited by the Beijing Olympics to end before restarting their missile test program. They also appear to have no hesitation about starting provocations with an actual major war going on in Ukraine:

North Korea fired a ballistic missile toward the East Sea on Sunday, South Korea’s military said, in the recalcitrant regime’s eighth show of force this year.

The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said it detected the launch from around the Sunan area in Pyongyang at 7:52 a.m., and that the missile flew about 300 kilometers at a top altitude of 620 km.

The latest launch, the first in just under a month, came 10 days ahead of South Korea’s presidential election and amid the armed conflict in Ukraine following Russia’s invasion of the country last week.

“For other specifics on the missile, the intelligence authorities of South Korea and the United States are conducting a detailed analysis,” the JCS said in a text message sent to reporters.

“Our military is tracking and monitoring related (North Korean) movements and maintaining a readiness posture,” it added. 

The North is presumed to have fired the missile from a Transporter Erector Launcher (TEL) at a steep angle from the Sunan airfield, informed sources said, raising speculation it could be a medium-range ballistic missile (MRBM). 

The missile appears to be similar to the Pukguksong-2 missile, a road-mobile solid-fuel MRBM, known to be the North’s ground-based variant of its submarine-launched ballistic missile, the Pukguksong-1, according to observers.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

I guess we will see if this is North Korea’s post Winter Olympics provocation:

Speculation is mounting that North Korea is preparing a satellite launch, following reports on Monday by state media that the country is determined to “conquer space.”  
   
Yun Sun-yong, a member of the North’s National Science and Technology Commission, emphasized the country’s will to “conquer space” during a Monday radio broadcast aired by the state-run Korean Central Broadcasting Committee to mark the sixth anniversary of the launch of the Kwangmyongsong No. 4, an earth observation satellite the North launched in February 2016.  
   
“The path to conquer space will be continued today and tomorrow, and the heroic legend of juche Korea, which astounds the world, will be created anew continuously.” 

Joong Ang Ilbo

You can read more at the link, but this will raise tensions because the U.S. and the West will claim that North Korea is testing ICBM technology with this launch.

North Korea seems to want to remind the Biden administration they can target U.S. soil with their latest missile launch; they even put a camera on their missile to further drive that point home:

North Korea’s state-run news outlet on Monday confirmed it successfully test-fired an intermediate-range ballistic missile capable of reaching the United States’ territory of Guam.

The Korean Central News Agency announced the country had fired a Hwasong-12 missile on Sunday from the northwestern area of North Korea toward the eastern coast “in consideration of the security of neighboring countries.”

The Hwasong-12 is an intermediate-range ballistic missile with an estimated maximum range of 2,796 miles, more than enough distance to reach Guam, according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies. It was first unveiled – and last tested – by North Korea in 2017, the same year the communist regime tested its first intercontinental ballistic missile.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link.

North Korea just increased their level of provocation with an IRBM test. This missile can range the U.S. territory of Guam. The next step to be even more provocative is to fire over Japan:

North Korea fired an intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM) into the East Sea on Sunday, South Korea’s military said, raising fears that Pyongyang has inched toward its threatened suspension of a self-imposed moratorium on nuclear and long-range missile tests.

The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said it detected the missile, fired at a steep angle from Mupyong-ri in the northern province of Jagang, at 7:52 a.m., and it flew about 800 kilometers at a top altitude of 2,000 km.

The missile hit a top speed of Mach 16, 16 times the speed of sound, and appears to be similar to the Hwasong-12 missile that the North tested in 2017, a military official told reporters, requesting anonymity.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but if this was a normal Olympics cycle I think the CCP would be upset about these missile launches taking headlines away from China. However, with no fans and a diplomatic boycott going on which is leading to little interest in the Olympics China probably has no issues with the Kim regime raising tensions.