hankyoreh

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un instructs officials during a field guidance tripin an image from the Mar. 18 edition of the Rodong Sinmun newspaper. (Yonhap News)

North Korea fired two more missiles on Mar. 18.

The latest launches come eight days after two Scud missiles were launched on Mar. 10.

“North Korea launched one ballistic missile each at approximately 5:55 am and 6:17 am this morning,” the Joint Chiefs of Staff headquarters said later that day. Both launches took place around the area of Sukchon in South Pyongan Province, with missiles fired in the direction of the East Sea.

The first missile reportedly flew for just over 800 km before falling to earth within the Japanese Air Defense Identification Zone (JADIK). Based on the distance flown, military officers believe it to have been a Nodong missile. The second missile disappeared from the authorities’ radar at an altitude of around 17 km and is believed to have exploded in midair.

North Korea previously launched two Scud missiles on Mar. 10 and fired six rounds from a new 300-mm multiple rocket launcher on Mar. 3. If the first missile was a Rodong, it would be the first launched since Mar. 26, 2014. Scud missiles have a 300- to 500-km range that would allow them to strike any location in South Korea, while Nodong missiles have a maximum range of 1,200 to 1,300 km and could be used to strike against Japan.

The latest launches appear to be following orders from North Korean leader Kim Jong-un during a field command visit on Mar. 15 at a ballistic rocket warhead reentry simulation. At the time, Kim called for “conducting nuclear warhead detonation testing in the near future, along with test launches for various kinds of ballistic rockets that are capable of carrying a nuclear warhead.”

South Korean Ministry of National Defense spokesperson Moon Sang-gyun said North Korea “appears to have hastened its test launch efforts to advance its nuclear capabilities on orders from Kim Jong-un.”

The Nodong is a ballistic missile capable of carrying a small nuclear warhead with a weight of 700 kg. A military source predicted that North Korea could also conduct test launches for its Musudan and KN-08 missiles.

The shorter flight distance of 800 km was could be due to a reduction in fuel or to undershooting or overshooting the normal trajectory.

The South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs denounced the launches in a statement, calling them “a blatant violation of the United Nations Security Council Resolution banning [North Korea from] all launches using ballistic missile technology.”

The statement also promised “omnidirectional efforts to pressure the North into realizing clearly that it cannot survive unless it abandons it nuclear and missile programs.”

In a statement on Mar. 17, US Secretary of State John Kerry urged Pyongyang to “refrain from actions that further raise tensions in the region and focus instead on taking concrete steps toward fulfilling its international commitments and obligations.”

Kerry’s rare statement in response to a North Korean missile launch could be a sign of Washington’s perceptions on the seriousness of the security situation on the Korean Peninsula.

By Park Byong-su, senior staff writer and Yi Yong-in, Washington correspondent

Please direct questions or comments to [english@hani.co.kr]