North Korea’s Aggressive Behaviour: Fires Most Powerful Long-Range Missile

North Korea has conducted missile provocations for two consecutive days. The Joint Chiefs of Staff announced on the morning of the 18th, “North Korea has launched a long-range ballistic missile towards the East Sea.” The military is currently analyzing the missile’s specifications, including its flight distance, altitude, and speed.

This launch follows North Korea’s firing of a short-range ballistic missile in the vicinity of Pyongyang on the 17th. The missile fired by North Korea on the 17th flew approximately 570 km (354 miles) before falling into the sea.

According to the Joint Chiefs of Staff, our military has identified North Korea’s launch of a presumed long-range ballistic missile toward the East Sea. This launch occurred at approximately 8:24 a.m. and followed another missile provocation roughly 10 hours earlier on the night of the 17th. Notably, this marks the first instance of a long-range ballistic missile launch in over five months, with the last recorded on July 12th.

Considering the flight distance, the ballistic missile launched by North Korea on the 17th is interpreted as targeting the U.S. nuclear-powered submarine USS Missouri (SSN-780), which had entered the naval base in Busan. The straight-line distance from Sunan Airport in Pyongyang to Busan is approximately 55 km (342 miles).

Meanwhile, the Joint Chiefs of Staff stated, “While our military has heightened its alert level, it is maintaining a full readiness posture while closely sharing information related to North Korea’s ballistic missile with U.S. and Japanese authorities.”

By. Young Hun Choi