North Korea launches two long-range ballistic missiles over the Sea of Japan

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has personally inspected this Wednesday a test launch of two long-range ballistic missiles that would serve to strengthen the deterrence of a war in the country in the current context of rising tensions with South Korea and the United States.

Specifically, Pyongyang has launched two strategic ballistic missiles that have flown for nearly 20 minutes making “a figure eight over the Sea of Japan” to finally hit the target, 2,000 kilometers away, as detailed by the North Korean agency KCNA.

The missile launch has been carried out with the purpose of “further” improving North Korea’s combat performance, as well as the power of the long-range ballistic missiles deployed by the North Korean Armed Forces.

Kim has expressed his “great satisfaction” with the test results, and assured that Pyongyang thus demonstrates “once again” that it is combat-ready and that it can “subdue enemies with a single blow with an unconditional, mobile, accurate and powerful counterattack.”

The North Korean leader also emphasized that Wednesday’s missile explosion is “a clear and unequivocal warning” to North Korea’s enemies, adding that the “absolute reliability and combat power of the war deterrence” of the country’s military have been verified “once again,” the agency said.

In recent weeks North Korea has launched several ballistic missiles in tests banned by UN Security Council resolutions, in response to U.S.-Korean military maneuvers it considers an invasion rehearsal.

In the early hours of October 4, Pyongyang launched an intermediate-range ballistic missile that flew over Japanese territory to land in the Pacific Ocean, outside Japanese airspace, an event that had not occurred since 2017.