North Korea fired an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) in the early hours of Dec 18 that flew about 1,000km before falling into the sea west of Japan's Hokkaido, according to the South Korean and Japanese authorities.
It was North Korea's fifth ICBM launch in 2023 - the highest number in a single year. It came just hours after the North launched a short-range ballistic missile on Dec 17, a move that coincided with the arrival of the US nuclear-powered submarine Missouri in the South Korean port city of Busan.
North Korea also issued an angry statement on Dec 17, calling the United States and South Korea "military gangsters", and said their show of military cooperation was tantamount to "a preview of a nuclear war".
"The escalation of the North Korean threat is an ominous development under current circumstances," said Seoul National University law professor Lee Jae-min.
Tensions between the two Koreas have been heightened since Pyongyang successfully put its first spy satellite into orbit on Nov 21.
A 2018 inter-Korea military accord to cease all hostile acts against each other was then scrapped.
North Korea has since reinstalled guard posts and started redeploying heavy arms within the demilitarised zone that separates the north and south.
Prof Lee sees North Korea's actions as a green-eyed reaction to the deepening alliance between the US and South Korea, and the military cooperation among the two allies and Japan.
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة December 19, 2023 من The Straits Times.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
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هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة December 19, 2023 من The Straits Times.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك? تسجيل الدخول
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