Seoul says Pyongyang’s 2nd missile launch in a week undermines ‘political stability’
South Korea has urged Pyongyang to return to dialogue after it reported that North Korea fired a second ballistic missile in six days. The negotiations to limit Pyongyang’s missile program stalled in 2019.
The launches “pose a significant threat to peace and security not only on the Korean Peninsula but also in the world, and are not helpful for the reduction of military tensions,” South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said.
The South Korean president’s National Security Council (NSC) expressed “strong regret,” stating that the launch “took place at a time when political stability is very important.”
The NSC convened for an emergency meeting on Tuesday morning, calling on the North to “resume dialogue and cooperation” for the sake of peace in the region.
The JCS reported that Pyongyang fired what was “presumed to be a ballistic missile” into the Sea of Japan (known in the Koreas as the East Sea) on Tuesday. The launch was also detected by the US Indo-Pacific Command.
The test was the second suspected missile fired by North Korea in six days. According to the JCS, the performance of the missile launched on Tuesday “has improved” compared with the projectile fired on January 5.
North Korea has not commented on the issue so far. The talks on North Korea’s missile program effectively stalled after a failed summit between then-US president Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in Hanoi, Vietnam, in 2019.
