North Korea test fires two ballistic missiles into the East Sea

North Korea fired two ballistic missiles on Sunday morning, South Korea's military said, days after the regime said it successfully tested a solid-fuel engine for a new weapons system.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un watches a test of a solid-fuel engine at the Sohae Satellite Testing Ground in Tongchang-ri, North Pyongan Province on Thursday in this footage released by Pyongyang's state-controlled Korean Central Television. [YONHAP]

North Korea fired two ballistic missiles on Sunday morning, South Korea's military said, days after the regime said it successfully tested a solid-fuel engine for a new weapons system.

Seoul’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) told reporters it detected the launch of two medium-range ballistic missiles (MRBM) from Tongchang-ri, North Pyongan Province at 11.13 a.m. and 12.05 p.m., and that the missiles landed in the East Sea.

According to the Japanese Defense Ministry, which also detected the launches, the missiles peaked at an altitude of 550 kilometers (342 miles) and flew approximately 250 kilometers before splashing down outside of Japan’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ).

The JCS said that South Korean and U.S. intelligence officials are in the process of conducting a “comprehensive analysis” of recent developments in North Korea’s missile program.

“In a meeting immediately after North Korea’s ballistic missile launches, officials from South Korea and the United States confirmed they would cooperate closely to further strengthen their joint defense posture against any threats and provocations from North Korea,” the JCS said.

The test came a day after regime leader Kim Jong-un attended a ceremony marking the anniversary of the death of his father and previous leader Kim Jong-il at the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun in Pyongyang, according to the North’s state-controlled Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

South Korea’s National Security Council met Sunday and strongly condemned the launches as violations of United Nations Security Council resolutions that ban ballistic missile tests by Pyongyang, characterizing them a “grave provocation that undermines peace and stability and escalates tensions on the Korean Peninsula.”

Sunday’s launch site, Tongchang-ri, is also where North Korea said it tested a “high-thrust solid-fuel motor” on Thursday. State media lauded that test as a significant milestone “for the development of another new-type strategic weapon system.”

The last North Korean missile launch before Sunday was that of the Hwasong-17 intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) on Nov. 18.

The Hwasong-17 uses liquid fuel, which typically needs to be loaded into the missile at the launch site before it can be fired — a time-consuming process which makes the weapon easier to find and destroy.

Solid-fuel missiles can remain in storage for an extended period, allowing them to be deployed and launched in a shorter time frame.

North Korea also said it used a sealed “missile fuel ampoule” when it claimed to have tested its first hypersonic missile, the Hwasong-8, in September.

Such ampoules, while still filled with liquid fuel, would allow “loading missiles with propellants at the factory,” and signals “improvement in the survivability and operational utility of North Korean liquid-propellant missiles,” according to the Washington-based 38 North think tank.

Sunday’s ballistic missile launch came two days after the United Nations General Assembly passed a resolution condemning the North for human rights violations.

The resolution, sponsored by the European Union, blasted the North over human rights and expressed concern over what it calls illegal detention, torture and execution of foreign nationals in the country.

The General Assembly resolution also condemned North Korea for its continued missile tests, saying the country diverts resources from its people to its illegal weapons programs.

North Korea has fired a record of 65 ballistic missiles so far this year.

The unprecedented pace of missile testing by Pyongyang was cited by Tokyo as factor in its overhaul of Japanese national security strategy, which was announced Friday.

As part of sweeping new changes to its defense policy, Japan said it would move to acquire “counterstrike” capabilities, or the ability to hit enemy bases with long-range missiles.

The document describes North Korea as “an even more grave and imminent threat to Japan’s national security than ever before.”

Pyongyang’s solid-fuel engine test also prompted the White House to urge Kim Jong-un to return to dialogue with the United States.

In a Friday briefing, John Kirby, National Security Council coordinator for strategic communications, called on Kim accept an offer of dialogue with the United States in order to find a diplomatic resolution leading to the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.

Kirby also said that Washington would continue to work with allies Seoul and Tokyo to bolster its presence in the region through joint exercises, adding that the United States was working to improve its intelligence gathering capabilities in and around the Korean Peninsula.

BY MICHAEL LEE [lee.junhyuk@joongang.co.kr]