Flashpoints | Security | East Asia

Amid Rumors of a Visit by China’s Leader, North Korea Fires Close-Range Ballistic Missiles

North Korea intends to press ahead with its own military modernization timeline regardless of the diplomatic calendar.

North Korea fired several close-range ballistic missiles into the ocean on May 26, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said. It was North Korea’s eighth ballistic missile test this year, and the first since the test of several short-range ballistic missiles over a month ago.

According to the South’s JCS, the missiles were launched around 1 p.m. KST from Chongju, North Pyongan Province, the county northwest of Pyongyang, and flew about 80 kilometers before falling into the sea to the west of the Korean Peninsula. Close-range ballistic missiles are generally classified as those with a range of 300 kilometers or less. 

The JCS said it had detected several additional projectiles, including multiple locket launchers, but did not elaborate. It added that the authorities of South Korean, U.S., and Japan are sharing intelligence and conducting detailed analysis of the specifications of the launches. 

More details of the tested missiles will likely be released by North Korea’s state-controlled media in the following days. 

What drew particular attention this time was not the missiles themselves but the direction of the launch and its timing. According to media reports, Chinese leader Xi Jinping is likely to visit Pyongyang for a summit meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in the coming weeks, following his meetings with U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin this month. If confirmed, it would be Xi’s first visit to Pyongyang in seven years and would explicitly signal that the anti-U.S. coalition in East Asia is activating. 

In this context, North Korea chose to fire missiles toward the west (and China) rather than the east. That could risk provoking........

© The Diplomat