According to South Korean military authorities, North Korea fired two presumed cruise missiles on Tuesday in its fifth display of firearms.
North Korea demonstrates its armed services’ might in the face of pandemic-related challenges and a protracted freeze in the nuclear agreement with the US.
Officers from both South Korea and the United States, who spoke on the condition of remaining anonymous because of department restrictions, said intelligence officials were examining the launches.
Still, they did not disclose any further information. Another military officer, who also sought anonymity for the same reasons, stated the tests were carried out in an inland location, but did not explain where exactly this was.
North Korea has fired what appeared to be two cruise missiles into the sea off its east coast, South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said, days after a flurry of ballistic missile tests. https://t.co/lLD5XQiy89
— CBC News (@CBCNews) January 25, 2022
Exerting Pressure on the Biden Administration
North Korea has recently increased its testing exercises in an apparent attempt to exert pressure on the Biden government over the stagnated diplomacy, following the pandemic outbreak.
This, as a result, has wreaked further havoc on an economy already battered by burdensome U.S.-led punitive measures over its nuclear activities and decades of poor management by the country’s government.
North Korea’s ruler, Kim Jong Un, delivered a veiled warning last Thursday to resume nuclear weapons and long-range missile tests aimed at the American homeland. He previously stopped in 2018, while attempting to engage in diplomatic relations with the U.S.
Some analysts predict North Korea will drastically increase its weapons displays, following the Winter Olympics. This begins on February 4 in China and will last for several weeks.
It is assumed that Pyongyang’s leadership believes it needs a tremendous instigation to make a difference with the Biden government. Conversely, the United States has offered open-ended discussions.
Still, the United States has shown no readiness to ease punitive measures unless Kim takes concrete steps to give up the nuclear munitions and missiles he believes are his most important means of ensuring his survival.
To Ease Financial Sanctions
On Tuesday, North Korea’s missile launches might have been follow-up demonstrations of a weapon the country has classified as a long-range cruise missile. It was first fired in September, according to Kim Dong-yub, a scholar at Seoul’s North Korean Studies University.
▪ SANCTIONS ON ICE
China, Russia block U.S. bid to impose new UNSC sanctions on N. Korea following latest missile launches#China #Russia #NorthKorea
Arirang News ▶ https://t.co/mVDEocNgm0
News Center ▶ https://t.co/mZQ2egcQgF pic.twitter.com/nIvpr2ITXq— Arirang News (@arirangtvnews) January 21, 2022
As revealed by accounts at the time, the missiles were launched from launcher trucks and had a range of 932 miles, allowing them to attack targets 932 miles away.
The report called the missiles in question “strategic missiles of considerable significance,” which suggests they were designed to carry nuclear bombs on board.
While putting a halt to atomic warheads and intercontinental ballistic missile testing, Kim Jong Un has been speeding up tests of different shorter-range weapons, which appear to be intended to overpower missile defense systems in the region, beginning in 2019.
Experts believe the North’s growing missile arsenal reflects a desire to exert greater pressure on its adversaries to recognize it as a nuclear power.
This comes in the hope of obtaining relief from financial restrictions and converting diplomacy with the United States into mutual arms-reduction agreements.
