Why did Kim Jong-un fire several short-range missiles just before Trump's return?
On Tuesday, January 14, the South Korean army claimed that North Korea had launched several short-range ballistic missiles into the Sea of Japan.
These launches came a day after Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya visited South Korea. Tokyo and Seoul are keen to strengthen relations before Donald Trump returns to the White House.
The South Korean army said it had “detected several short-range ballistic missiles fired into the East Sea”, adding that the missiles had travelled 250km before crashing into the sea, reports France info. A week before these launches, Pyongyang had also claimed to have tested a new “hypersonic missile”.
Choi Sang-mok, South Korea's acting president, strongly condemned the launches, underlining that they were a violation of UN Security Council resolutions. “Seoul will respond more firmly to North Korea's provocations based on its strong security stance and alliance with the United States,” he assured.
The president of the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul, Yang Moo-jin, believes that this launch “could indicate an intention to apply pressure before the second term of the Trump administration”.
(MH with Manon Pierre - Source: France info - Illustration: Unsplash)