US Secretary of State Antony Blinken
North Korea has launched a number of short-range ballistic missiles in what many believe was a deliberate move to draw attention as US Secretary of State Antony Blinken visits South Korea for talks.
Blinken is in Seoul for the third Democracy Summit, where he met President Yoon Suk-yeol on Monday morning.
He is also meeting with his South Korean counterpart on the sidelines of the event, where discussions are expected to focus on the allies’ efforts to confront threats from the nuclear-armed North.
Washington and Seoul completed one of their major annual joint military training exercises last week, triggering heated retorts and live-fire drills from nuclear-armed Pyongyang, which views all such operations as invasion rehearsals.
Seoul’s military claimed it detected the launch of “multiple short-range ballistic missiles” early Monday, which flew around 300 kilometers before landing in the East Sea, often known as the Sea of Japan.
Following his discussion with Yoon, Blinken “condemned the launch of ballistic missiles by the DPRK and reaffirmed the United States’ ironclad commitment to the ROK’s security,” according to Spokesperson Matthew Miller, referring to North and South Korea by their official names.
Yoshimasa Hayashi, Japan’s senior government spokesperson, stated that the North fired three short-range ballistic missiles that landed outside of the country’s exclusive economic zone and caused no harm.
The launches came only days after Seoul and Washington’s annual Freedom Shield drills, which this year included twice as many troops, concluded on Thursday.
Pyongyang warned last month that Seoul and Washington would pay a “dear price” for the drills, and later declared that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un had commanded an artillery unit capable of striking Seoul.
