The world’s attention may be focused on the conflict between Russia and Global NATO in Ukraine, but tensions in that other potential flashpoint, the Korean Peninsula, have been heating up over recent weeks as well. Three major developments of yesterday were rounded up together in a single report from the Korea Herald.
First off, the North Koreans fired a pair of ballistic missiles towards its east coast early yesterday “between around 11:59 a.m. and 12:18 p.m. local time” (02:59 and 03:18 UTC) according to the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff. The short-range ballistic missiles traveled about 230 kilometers at a speed of Mach 5 and an altitude of around 24 km, the JCS said. The JCS strongly condemned the ballistic missile launches and urged North Korea to immediately stop its ballistic missile launches. They are a grave provocation that undermines the peace and stability of the Korean Peninsula, the international community, and is a flagrant violation of the UN Security Council resolutions, it said.
The Herald reported that the missile launches came after the release of the defense policy documents by the Pentagon on Oct. 27. The Nuclear Posture Review included threats against North Korea. “Any nuclear attack by North Korea against the United States or its allies and partners is unacceptable and will result in the end of that regime,” the NPR read. “There is no scenario in which the Kim regime could employ nuclear weapons and survive.”
