North Korea Launches Three Ballistic Missiles, Including a Suspected ICBM
Source: New York Times
North Korea Launches Three Ballistic Missiles, Including a Suspected ICBM
The tests came just as President Biden wrapped up a trip to the region with a promise to deter the North’s nuclear and missile threat.
By Choe Sang-Hun
May 24, 2022
Updated 10:13 p.m. ET
SEOUL — North Korea launched three ballistic missiles, including a possible intercontinental ballistic missile, toward the waters off its east coast on Wednesday, South Korea’s military said. The launches came just as President Biden wrapped up a trip to the region, where he vowed to strengthen deterrence against the North’s growing nuclear threat.
It was North Korea’s 17th missile test this year. The missiles were launched from Sunan, near Pyongyang, the North’s capital, at 6 a.m., 6:37 and 6:42, the South Korean military said. American and South Korean officials have warned in recent weeks that the North was ready to conduct either a nuclear test or an intercontinental ballistic missile test.
Shortly after the North’s tests, the South Korean and United States militaries each launched a land-to-land missile off the east coast of South Korea to demonstrate what Seoul called the allies’ “swift striking capability to deter further provocations from North Korea,” as well as the South Korean military’s “overwhelming” ability to launch “precision strikes at the origin of North Korean provocation.”
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The first missile launched on Wednesday by North Korea appeared to have been an ICBM, South Korean defense officials said. But it flew only 224 miles, the officials said, indicating that North Korea did not want to launch the missile on a full ICBM trajectory over the Pacific while Mr. Biden was in the air, on his way back to Washington after a visit to Seoul and Tokyo.
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Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/24/world/asia/north-korea-ballistic-missiles.html
