The recent attempts by South Korea and the United States to strengthen their nuclear deterrent strategies against North Korean threats were met by Kin Jong Un rattling his saber. NoKo tested a ballistic missile and fired it into the sea on Sunday. This was a significant show of defiance.
The rocket launched from a location close to Pyongyang and traveled 570 kilometers before splashing in the ocean. While keeping prepared for any further military actions by North Korea, South Korea informed the United States and Japan about the launch so that they could observe the exercise and gather data. The South widely panned the firing of a test missile as an “obvious breach” of agreements passed by the UNSC (United States Security Council) that prohibited North Korea from using ballistic technology.
With North Korean leader Kim Jong Un speeding up the development of his nuclear and missile program and flaunting an escalatory nuclear policy that permits the preemptive use of nuclear weapons, tensions on the Korean Peninsula are at an all-time high.
Shortly after the launch, the North Korean Defense Ministry released a statement that omitted any reference to the ballistic missile. The US deployment of military capabilities, such as nuclear-powered submarines and bombers strategically positioned, to South Korea was instead condemned by the ministry as “reckless” posturing that destabilizes the region.
North Korea has vowed to prepare unnamed “offensive countermeasures” in response to what it sees as the United States and South Korea’s decision to include nuclear-operating scenarios in their joint exercises. U.S. and South Korean officials issued a unified statement threatening nuclear retaliation on Pyongyang and its allies, threatening to topple the Kim Jong Un government.
In the case of a nuclear strike by North Korea, South Korea has been pressing the United States for firmer guarantees that it will protect its partner with its nuclear weapons quickly and forcefully.
