North Korea Fires Ballistic Missile, Vows To Step Up Nuke Development

North Korea Fires Ballistic Missile, Vows To Step Up Nuke Development

North Korea fired a ballistic missile toward its east coast following a threat by Communist dictator Kim Jong Un to speed up the regime’s nuclear weapons program, Japanese media reported Wednesday.

The North Korean launch is the latest in the series of long-range missiles tested this year by the regime, including a hypersonic weapon that reportedly hit a target over 600 miles from its shore. In late March, North Korea launched a so-called “monster missile,” which the regime claims “to be the world’s largest road-mobile liquid propellant intercontinental ballistic missile.”

Last week, Kim paraded his massive missile arsenal in the capital of Pyongyang and pledged to develop nuclear weapons at the “fastest possible pace.”

The Japanese business daily Nikkei reported the latest North Korean missile launch:

North Korea has fired a ballistic missile toward the sea off its east coast on Wednesday, South Korea’s military said, about a week after the North vowed to develop its nuclear forces “at the fastest possible speed.”

The launch, which marks the North’s 14th major weapons test this year, comes days before South Korea’s newly elected President Yoon Suk-yeol takes office on May 10. (…)

Japan’s Coast Guard also said that it had detected what appeared to be a ballistic missile fired from North Korea, and that the projectile had already landed.

Details of the projectile, including its flight range and altitude, were not immediately available.

The latest launch came less than three weeks after the North fired a new tactical guided weapon on April 16 aimed at boosting the country’s nuclear capabilities.

Pyongyang has recently stepped up weapons tests, resuming long-range missile launches for first time since 2017 in March. Officials in Seoul and Washington say it may also be preparing for a new round of nuclear tests.

North Korea’s announcement to ramp up its nuclear arsenal comes as President Joe Biden’s administration fails to stop Iran from racing towards a nuclear bomb.

After spending nearly 12 months in talks to restore the Obama-era deal and making numerous concessions to the Iranian regime, the Biden White House has failed to stop Tehran from advancing its rogue nuclear program. Iran used this time to raise its stockpile of near-weapons grade uranium and develop its nuclear weapons capabilities.

Since President Biden took office, North Korea and Iran have also resumed cooperation in nuclear-capable long-range missiles, the United Nations’ experts noted last year. North Korea and Iran “have resumed cooperation on long-range missile development projects,” a report published by the UN in February 2021 said.

The Biden administration’s weakness on the world stage has also emboldened China as its military steps up naval exercises near Taiwan amid Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine.

“The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) says it has intensified “realistic combat” exercises in the East China Sea,” the Hong Kong newspaper South China Morning Post reported Wednesday. “The training included more than 10 kinds of drills, such as close-in gun defence, main gun attack on the sea, tracking and surveillance, damage control, and search and rescue operations,” the daily added.

Following the Russian offensive against Ukraine, Taiwan could turn into the next conflict zone as the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) threatens to annex the island nation it regards as a renegade province.

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