North Korea launches its second short-range ballistic missile in a week

South Korea and Japan said that North Korea fired several short-range ballistic missiles toward its east coast on Wednesday. This came just days after Pyongyang opened a facility to enrich uranium and promised to make its nuclear weapons stronger.

The missiles took off from Kaechon, which is north of Pyongyang, at about 6:50 a.m. (2150 GMT Tuesday) and flew about 400 km (249 miles), according to South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS). They did not say how many were fired or where they fell.

“We strongly condemn North Korea’s missile launch as a clear provocation that seriously threatens the peace and stability of the Korean peninsula,” the JCS said in a statement. They also promised a strong response to any future provocation.

Japan’s coast guard said North Korea fired another ballistic missile about 30 minutes after the first missile warning. The Japanese Defense Minister, Minoru Kihara, said that the launches “cannot be tolerated” and that at least one of the rockets fell near the eastern inland coast of the North.

The office of South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol met to talk about security issues and told Pyongyang to stop all of its actions that are meant to cause trouble, like sending trash-filled balloons into the South.

The launch was against U.N. resolutions, and nuclear envoys from South Korea, Japan, and the US spoke out against it over the phone, according to a statement from Seoul’s foreign ministry. They promised to respond harshly to any further provocations.

That same day, the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command said on X that it knew about the launches and was in close contact with Seoul and Tokyo.

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According to unnamed sources, South Korea’s Yonhap news agency said the North could have used the KN-23 or Hwasong-11 short-range ballistic missiles. These are the same weapons that Ukrainian officials have said were likely given to Russia.

The North fired two missiles in July, one of which had what it called a “super-large warhead” on board. The JCS said that based on the launch site and trajectory, one of the missiles seemed to have landed in North Korea.

Last Thursday, the North shot several short-range ballistic missiles. It was the first time in more than two months that they had done so, and they later said it was a test of a new 600-mm multiple launch rocket system.

South Korea’s JCS said the launch could have been used to test weapons that will be sent to Russia. This comes as military cooperation between South Korea and Russia grows.

A lot of countries, including the US, South Korea, and Ukraine, say that Pyongyang gave Moscow rockets and missiles to use in the war in Ukraine in exchange for money and military help.

No illegal arms trade has been said between Moscow and Pyongyang.

This week, North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui is in Russia. On Tuesday, she met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Moscow and talked about ways to strengthen ties between the two countries, according to the Russian foreign ministry’s website.

Sergei Shoigu, who is in charge of Russia’s security, also went to Pyongyang last week and met with Kim Jong Un, the leader of North Korea.

Pyongyang released pictures of the centrifuges that make fuel for its nuclear bombs for the first time a few days before the missile launches on Wednesday. This came after Kim Jong-un visited a uranium enrichment plant and asked for more weapons-grade material to add to the arsenal.

Yang Moo-jin, president of the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul, said that the launches might have been planned to show off Pyongyang’s missile power and raise tensions before the U.S. elections.

“They might have discussed weapons supplies during the recent exchange of visits in light of the escalation of the Ukraine war, and the launches could also be part of preparations for a seventh nuclear test,” said Yang.