In yet another provocative move, South Korea held a live fire ballistic missile drill on Thursday, November 7 claiming it targeted possible threats from North Korea. The drill was held in the Yellow Sea “as a show of force,” claimed the country’s joint chief of staff in a press release.
South Korea fired a Hyunmoo II surface-to-surface ballistic missile claiming it was in response to North Korea firing short-range ballistic missiles earlier in the week and an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) the previous week.
The statement issued by the South Korean joint chief of staff claimed “our military demonstrated its strong resolve to respond to any North Korean provocations as well as the capabilities and posture for precision strikes against the enemy’s origin of provocation.”
The statement also reiterated South Korea’s long held stance that North Korea’s military activities were a threat. It declared that Seoul is actively collaborating with the US in order to be ready to respond to any attacks from “the enemy” in an “overwhelming” manner, Korea Times reported.
The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK or North Korea) has termed such statements and drills as provocative and a preparation to launch an attack.
In a statement issued following the launch of the ICBM on October 30, the DPRK claimed it has every right to develop its defensive capabilities given the fact that the US has a strong military presence in the region and has been constantly threatening military action against it.
The DPRK alleged that both South Korea and the US have been involved in a “frantic arms build up” in the region as well as conducting growing numbers of threatening joint military exercises in recent times with unprecedented scale. The DPRK also cites repeated “reckless” statements issued by the Republic of Korea from time to time as growing threats to its national security.
In the statement, they also rejected South Korean claims saying that the DPRK’s military development including the intercontinental ballistic missiles test last week had an “effect on the security of neighboring countries.” It has called its weapons program as a part of its attempts to build a strong defensive mechanism for “peace and the right to existence that should never be conceded.”
Growing US involvement threatens regional security
The US and South Korea have conducted several major joint military exercises in the region this year. Some of these exercises have seen the involvement of several other US allies such as Japan and New Zealand.
Following North Korea’s ICBM test on October 30, South Korea and the US air force held another joint “tactical flight maneuvers and bombing drills” a day later.
The US has increased its deployment of “US strategic assets on the Korean Peninsula” and generally in the East Asian region, and deepened military cooperation with countries such as South Korea and Japan in an unprecedented way. The US has also been accused by North Korea and China of trying to create a NATO type alliance in the region.
Meanwhile, South Korean president Yoon Suk Yeol confirmed on Thursday that his country may decide to send weapons to Ukraine in the coming days claiming the decision is based on the DPRK signing an agreement with Russia to supply weapons and troops.
A Comprehensive Partnership Treaty was signed between DPRK and Russia in June during Russian president Vladimir Putin’s visit to Pyongyang. Following the signing of the treaty, South Korea and its Western allies, the US and European countries have alleged that North Korea is sending weapons and thousands of troops to Ukraine to fight on behalf of Russia.
Both Russia and North Korea have denied the allegations. Russia has even called the allegations a hoax and complete nonsense.
Russia has claimed that signing of the treaty with North Korea was necessitated due to the changing geopolitical situations across the world but particularly around the Korean Peninsula where the US has decided to dump weapons, deploy “cutting edge systems there, including with the nuclear component, and forming new military and political alliances.”
