North Korea fires two ballistic missiles from Pyongyang airport, according to South Korea

North Korea fired two suspected short-range ballistic missiles (SRBM) from an airport in its capital, Pyongyang, on Monday, south Korea’s military said, marking the fourth test this month to demonstrate its growing missile arsenal.
Japan also reported the launch, with Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno condemning it as a threat to peace and security, while China urged all sides to preserve stability.
“We call on the parties involved to take into account the overall peace and stability on the peninsula,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian told his daily news conference in Beijing, when asked about the alleged launch.
Nuclear-armed North Korea had already conducted three other missile tests in less than two weeks before Monday. Two of them involved individual “hypersonic missiles” capable of reaching high speed and maneuvering after launch, while a pair of short-range ballistic missiles fired from train cars were used in a test on Friday.
Monday’s launch appeared to be two short-range ballistic missiles fired eastward from Pyongyang’s Sunan airfield, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said in a statement.
North Korea used the airport to test the Hwasong-12 intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM) in 2017, with leader Kim Jong Un present.
The missiles fired on Monday traveled about 380 kilometers and reached a maximum altitude of 42 kilometers, the JCS said in a statement.
Japanese Defense Minister Nobuo Kishi said the missiles appeared to have fallen into the ocean off North Korea’s eastern coast and that it is clear north Korea is using the frequent launches to improve its missile technology.
“North Korea’s repeated ballistic missile launches are a serious problem for the international community, including Japan,” Kishi told reporters, noting that the tests constituted a violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions banning North Korea from developing ballistic missiles.
The pace of testing suggests North Korea has enough missiles to be comfortable using them in tests, training and demonstrations, and they bolster its deterrent credibility by underscoring the volume of its missile force, said Mason Richey, a professor at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies in Seoul.
North Korea has not tested its longer-range intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) or nuclear weapons since 2017, but after denuclearization talks stalled in 2019, it began testing a number of new SRBM designs.
Many of the latest SRMMs, including hypersonic missiles, appear designed to evade missile defenses. North Korea has also vowed to pursue tactical nuclear weapons, which could allow it to deploy nuclear warheads on SRMMs.

Original source in Spanish