The South Korean Armed Forces reported that North Korea launched, on Saturday (22), several cruise missiles towards the Yellow Sea (called the West Sea by the two Koreas), which could mean a response to the sending of a nuclear submarine by the United States to the region.
The South Korean and US intelligence services, which analyze the launches, said they occurred around 4 a.m. (Seoul; 4 p.m. on Friday, the 21st, in Brasilia), according to a statement from the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS).
The launch came three days after North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles into the Sea of Japan (called the East Sea by the two Koreas), in another apparent response to the submarine’s presence and the first meeting of the so-called Nuclear Advisory Council (NCG) between South Korea and the United States.
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“Our armed forces have increased vigilance while cooperating closely with the United States and maintaining a resolute stance of readiness,” the Joint Chiefs of Staff said in the statement, adding that it is closely monitoring any further activity the North may undertake.
After the first session of the NCG this week, the coordinator for the Indo-Pacific region at the US National Security Council, Kurt Campbell, announced the arrival in Busan of the USS Kentucky (350 kilometers southeast of Seoul), a nuclear-capable ballistic missile submarine (SSBN), the first of its kind to visit South Korea in nearly 40 years.
It was decided to create the NCG and deploy the submarine in April, with the Washington Declaration signed by the Presidents of the United States and South Korea, Joe Biden and Yoon Sok Yul.
In the document, the United States pledged to strengthen the so-called “extended deterrence”, through which it protects its ally and seeks to dissuade Pyongyang from continuing to develop weapons of mass destruction.
Today’s release also comes after a US soldier crossed the border into North Korea, where he is currently being held, during a tourist trip on Wednesday.
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