North Korea fires missile, vows 'fiercer' response to U.S. and allies

On Thursday North Korea fired yet another ballistic missile as it warned of a “fiercer” military response to U.S. efforts to boost its security presence in the region. The regime stated that Washington is taking a “gamble it will regret”.

North Korea has conducted a record number of missile tests this year and fired hundreds of artillery shells into the sea as South Korea and the United States staged exercises, some of which involved Japan.

South Korea’s military said the ballistic missile was launched from the North’s east coast city of Wonsan on Thursday morning, flying 240 km to an altitude of 47 km at the speed of Mach 4.

North Korea threatens with military counteraction

The latest launch came less than two hours after North Korea’s foreign minister, Choe Son Hui, criticised a Sunday trilateral summit between the United States, South Korea and Japan. During the summit, the leaders chastised Pyongyang’s weapons tests and pledged greater security cooperation.

During the talks, U.S. President Joe Biden reaffirmed a commitment to reinforce extended deterrence and defend the two Asian allies with a “full range of capabilities”, including nuclear weapons.

It was a productive first day in Cambodia. Looking forward to the East Asia Summit and the trilateral meeting with the Republic of Korea and Japan. pic.twitter.com/Wf4aZGEcT6

— President Biden (@POTUS) November 13, 2022

“The keener the U.S. is on the bolstered offer of extended deterrence to its allies and the more they intensify provocative and bluffing military activities ... the fiercer the DPRK’s military counteraction will be,” the North Korean minister said in a statement quoted by the official KCNA news agency.