Unlike with previous launches, Kim Jong Un’s regime has mostly refrained from trumpeting the missiles along with the usual creative vitriol directed at the U.S. and its allies.
North Korea fired two suspected ballistic missiles early Sunday, adding to one of its biggest two-week barrages under Kim Jong Un that has ratcheted up tension to levels not seen in years.
The suspected ballistic missiles were detected shortly before 2 a.m. local time and flew toward waters east of its coast, Yonhap said, citing South Korea’s military. Japan’s coast guard earlier said at least the first missile appeared to have already landed.
The launch comes after North Korea shot off 10 ballistic missiles over the past two weeks that included firing its first missile over Japan in five years. The series of tests hearkened back to the autumn of 2017 when Kim’s regime unleashed its largest barrage of long-range rockets and detonated a nuclear bomb, which prompted fresh United Nations sanctions as punishment.
North Korea often times its weapons tests to political events, and the latest launch came after the USS Ronald Reagan aircraft carrier group made a U-turn after the missile flew over Japan. The carrier group went back to waters off the Korean Peninsula, where its vessels held missile defense exercises with naval forces from Japan and South Korea on Thursday.
Pyongyang on Saturday criticized the presence of the carrier group as “extremely worrisome,” saying that its armed forces are taking a serious approach toward its deployment.
North Korea has bristled for decades at joint military exercises, calling them a prelude to an invasion.
