North Korea fires two missiles after nuke-armed US submarine docks in South
North Korea has launched two ballistic missiles into the East Sea in response to provocative US move of deploying a nuclear-armed submarine at a South Korean port, the first in decades.
The latest launches were reported by South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS), declaring that the missiles were fired from the Sunan area in Pyongyang off its east coast early Wednesday, plunging into the East Sea, also known as the Sea of Japan, its Yonhap news agency reported.
The launches, which were confirmed by Japan's Defense Ministry, are the latest in a series of weapons tests by Pyongyang in response to Washington and Seoul's joint provocations following the US-South Korea agreement to deploy nuclear assets to the South.
Ahead of the US nuclear missile submarine's arrival, a North Korean defense ministry spokesperson had warned last week that the deployment of nuclear assets to the Korean Peninsula "may incite the worst crisis of nuclear conflict in practice."
North Korea has vowed to respond proportionally to the agreement reached recently between the South and the United States allowing the deployment of American nuclear assets to the Korean Peninsula.
Addressing the UN security council last week, North Korean envoy to the UN, Kim Sung, said the US in April cooked up the "Washington Declaration", a program for nuclear confrontation with North Korea, according to the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).
In its plan, the US is openly planning to discuss the use of nuclear weapons against Pyongyang during meetings of the "Nuclear Consultative Group" which will be the parent body of the US-Japan-south Korea "tripartite nuclear alliance", Kim said adding that it is driving the regional situation to the brink of an unprecedented nuclear war.
Test-firing missiles are essential for the further development of the strategic nuclear force of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) and, at the same time, serve as a strong practical warning to clearly show the adversaries, KCNA reported.
The missile launches "make the enemies clearly realize once again how risky and reckless their anti-DPRK military option is,” the report added.
Kim Jong Un's sister Kim Yo Jong asserted that Pyongyang would strive towards "further perfection" of its nuclear deterrent.
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