Ahead of Trump-Xi Summit, North Korea Launches More Missiles

Por Mitch Shin — The Diplomat

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On September 20, North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles, its second launch in a little over a week.

On September 20, North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles from the Wonsan area on its east coast, according to South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff. The first, detected around 3 p.m. KST, flew about 450 kilometers (280 miles). The second, fired about 5:50 p.m. KST, flew more than 600 kilometers (373 miles). Both are presumed to be from the Hwasong-11 series.

It was North Korea’s second missile launch in eight days. On September 12, one day after the Japan-South Korea-U.S. Freedom Edge exercise ended, North Korea fired several short-range ballistic missiles from the same area, which it described as part of a “joint firepower drill.” That launch was its first in 23 days. 

The September 20 launches followed a statement two days earlier from Kim Yo Jong, the powerful sister of Kim Jong Un. She said North Korea must answer U.S.-led drills such as the Pacific Vanguard naval exercise near Guam with measures at least as forceful. Her statement added that North Korea’s nuclear buildup would not change. 

A day before that, Kim had rejected renewed calls for denuclearization at an International Atomic Energy Agency conference.

Pyongyang has followed each allied exercise this month with missile fire, and the newest launches follow a warning of a tougher response from Kim Yo Jong.

Beyond that, North Korea’s latest missile launches come at a sensitive time. U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping are scheduled to hold a summit on September 24 in Washington, D.C. It will be Xi’s first trip to the U.S. capital in 10 years, and his first official state visit to the United States since 2015. This week also marks the start of the United Nations General Assembly. 

Separately, an explosion during a mine-clearing operation in the Demilitarized Zone injured three South Korean military officers on September 21, according to the South’s Joint Chiefs of Staff. The blast came at about 10:50 a.m. KST south of the Military Demarcation Line (MDL) in the western sector, where soldiers from the Army 25th Division were opening a search route through ground not yet checked for mines and unexploded ordnance. Two of the officers were flown to a military hospital by emergency helicopter and the commander of the reconnaissance battalion reportedly suffered an amputation at the ankle.

The cause of the blast remains unconfirmed, and the JCS said all possibilities remain open. The military is treating a mine as the most likely explanation. It has not said whether the device was one that North Korea planted, an explosive that drifted south in heavy rain, or one that belonged to South Korea. Still, the site lies far from the area in the southern half of the zone where North Korea is believed to have buried mines even as an opposition lawmaker argued that the blast occurred near a North Korean minefield. 

It was the first mine explosion to seriously injure South Korean troops south of the MDL line since August 2015 when North Korean wooden-box mines maimed two soldiers. North Korea has been laying mines and building tactical roads near the border since it declared the two Koreas hostile states. 

The incident in the DMZ, as well as the missile launches, could increase public skepticism of the Lee administration’s North Korea policy. The Unification Ministry recently devised a plan to support North Korea building hospitals. South Koreans may start to question why Seoul is still making dovish overtures toward Pyongyang, which has repeatedly stressed that it has no intention of renewing the stalled inter-Korean relations. 

In a press conference on September 18 , before the latest missile launches and the DMZ explosion, Lee said North Korea “is clearly refusing to communicate with South Korea.” He added that Trump wants dialogue with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and that Seoul is coordinating in advance to make talks possible. Lee dismissed concerns that South Korea could be sidelined in North Korea-U.S. diplomacy. 

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On September 20, North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles from the Wonsan area on its east coast, according to South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff. The first, detected around 3 p.m. KST, flew about 450 kilometers (280 miles). The second, fired about 5:50 p.m. KST, flew more than 600 kilometers (373 miles). Both are presumed to be from the Hwasong-11 series.

It was North Korea’s second missile launch in eight days. On September 12, one day after the Japan-South Korea-U.S. Freedom Edge exercise ended, North Korea fired several short-range ballistic missiles from the same area, which it described as part of a “joint firepower drill.” That launch was its first in 23 days. 

The September 20 launches followed a statement two days earlier from Kim Yo Jong, the powerful sister of Kim Jong Un. She said North Korea must answer U.S.-led drills such as the Pacific Vanguard naval exercise near Guam with measures at least as forceful. Her statement added that North Korea’s nuclear buildup would not change. 

A day before that, Kim had rejected renewed calls for denuclearization at an International Atomic Energy Agency conference.

Pyongyang has followed each allied exercise this month with missile fire, and the newest launches follow a warning of a tougher response from Kim Yo Jong.

Beyond that, North Korea’s latest missile launches come at a sensitive time. U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping are scheduled to hold a summit on September 24 in Washington, D.C. It will be Xi’s first trip to the U.S. capital in 10 years, and his first official state visit to the United States since 2015. This week also marks the start of the United Nations General Assembly. 

Separately, an explosion during a mine-clearing operation in the Demilitarized Zone injured three South Korean military officers on September 21, according to the South’s Joint Chiefs of Staff. The blast came at about 10:50 a.m. KST south of the Military Demarcation Line (MDL) in the western sector, where soldiers from the Army 25th Division were opening a search route through ground not yet checked for mines and unexploded ordnance. Two of the officers were flown to a military hospital by emergency helicopter and the commander of the reconnaissance battalion reportedly suffered an amputation at the ankle.

The cause of the blast remains unconfirmed, and the JCS said all possibilities remain open. The military is treating a mine as the most likely explanation. It has not said whether the device was one that North Korea planted, an explosive that drifted south in heavy rain, or one that belonged to South Korea. Still, the site lies far from the area in the southern half of the zone where North Korea is believed to have buried mines even as an opposition lawmaker argued that the blast occurred near a North Korean minefield. 

It was the first mine explosion to seriously injure South Korean troops south of the MDL line since August 2015 when North Korean wooden-box mines maimed two soldiers. North Korea has been laying mines and building tactical roads near the border since it declared the two Koreas hostile states. 

The incident in the DMZ, as well as the missile launches, could increase public skepticism of the Lee administration’s North Korea policy. The Unification Ministry recently devised a plan to support North Korea building hospitals. South Koreans may start to question why Seoul is still making dovish overtures toward Pyongyang, which has repeatedly stressed that it has no intention of renewing the stalled inter-Korean relations. 

In a press conference on September 18 , before the latest missile launches and the DMZ explosion, Lee said North Korea “is clearly refusing to communicate with South Korea.” He added that Trump wants dialogue with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and that Seoul is coordinating in advance to make talks possible. Lee dismissed concerns that South Korea could be sidelined in North Korea-U.S. diplomacy. 

Mitch Shin is a chief correspondent for The Diplomat, covering the Korean Peninsula. He is also a non-resident research fellow at the Central European Institute of Asian Studies and associate fellow for the Swedish Institute of International Affairs.

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Fonte: The Diplomat