North Korean aggression continues with missile launches and trash balloons

North Korea continued its aggressive behavior against South Korea throughout the Chuseok holidays, firing another round of short-range ballistic missiles (SRMBs) and cruise missiles and launching more trash-laden balloons across the border Wednesday.

In this photo carried by North Korea's state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and officials look on as the Hwasongpho-11-Da-4.5, a new tactical ballistic missile, is test launched on Wednesday. [YONHAP]

North Korea continued its aggressive behavior against South Korea throughout the Chuseok holidays, firing another round of short-range ballistic missiles (SRMBs) and cruise missiles and launching more trash-laden balloons across the border Wednesday.

North Korea and Russia are also cooperating more closely to achieve their respective strategic goals ahead of the U.S. presidential election in November, with the two nations holding a series of high-level meetings.

According to South Korea’s military on Thursday, North Korea launched a combination of SRMBs and cruise missiles on the morning of the previous day. The SRBMs flew northeast, while the cruise missiles flew in a figure-eight formation over the west coast.

In a report Thursday, North Korea’s state-run media, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), also announced that the North’s Missile General Bureau successfully conducted a test launch of a new tactical ballistic missile, the Hwasongpho-11-Da-4.5, and an improved strategic cruise missile the previous day.

The Hwasongpho-11-Da-4.5 is a missile modified to have a 4.5-ton warhead, a heavier payload than the KN-23 SRBM, also known as the “North Korean Iskander.”

The first test launch took place on July 1 in Jangyeon, South Hwanghae Province. Of the two missiles launched in the northeast direction at the time, one flew about 600 kilometers (372 miles), but the other flew only 120 kilometers and was presumed to have failed in its test launch.

Nevertheless, North Korea announced at the time that it would conduct an additional test with a range of about 250 kilometers in July, claiming that the launch was successful. That additional test has now taken place nearly three months later.

Unlike the first test launch in July, the KCNA released a photo showing the missile landing on land.

The fact that North Korea launched a combination of ballistic and cruise missiles together suggests the regime aims to deceive South Korean and U.S. military and intelligence authorities.

Ballistic missiles fly on a fixed trajectory at high altitudes, making them easy to detect on radar. However, they have a strong thrust, can carry heavy warheads and are very fast.

Cruise missiles are slower than ballistic missiles because their maximum speed is below the speed of sound, and their destructive power is weaker. However, since they fly at the lowest possible altitude to avoid radar networks, additional surveillance and reconnaissance assets, such as satellites, are required to track them.

By launching a combination of ballistic and cruise missiles, North Korea could disrupt interception and tracking networks and confuse South Korean and U.S. authorities in their initial analysis.

Pyongyang also continued to send trash-laden balloons across the border on Wednesday, floating approximately 160 balloons from Wednesday afternoon to late night, the last day of the Chuseok holidays.

South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said it detected 160 balloons from Wednesday, and no more had been identified as of Thursday morning.

“So far, approximately 30 fallen objects have been identified in the northern part of Gyeonggi and Seoul,” the JCS said Thursday. “Identified content includes household waste such as paper, vinyl and plastic bottles, and the analysis results show that nothing posed a safety risk.”

Wednesday’s round of trash balloons marks the 21st time North Korea has released the balloons since the first launch on May 28 this year.

Meanwhile, Pyongyang has also been continuing to build close relations with Moscow. According to the Russian Foreign Ministry, North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui visited the Russian capital on Tuesday to meet with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

“The two ministers exchanged opinions on ways to develop the comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

On Wednesday, the North's official Rodong Sinmun reported that Choe departed for Russia on Monday to participate in the first Eurasian Women's Forum and the first BRICS Women's Forum.

This comes after leader Kim met with Sergei Shoigu, secretary of the Security Council of the Russian Federation, in Pyongyang on Friday to discuss "deepening the strategic dialogue," according to the KCNA. The two followed up on the agreements made at the June summit between Kim and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Pyongyang, which included a mutual defense pledge.

BY LIM JEONG-WON [lim.jeongwon@joongang.co.kr]