The South Korean military said North Korea fired about 10 short-range ballistic missiles into the sea east of the Korean Peninsula on the morning of May 30.
Close monitoring
According to the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS), the flying objects, believed to be ballistic missiles, were launched from the Sunan area in Pyongyang at 6:14 a.m. (local time) into the East Sea of the Korean Peninsula. The JCS said the South Korean military has stepped up its monitoring of all related developments and continues to analyze information about the launch, while sharing information related to North Korea's ballistic missiles with US and Japanese authorities. Pyongyang has yet to officially confirm the information related to the above missile launch.
According to Yonhap news agency, on the same day, Mr. Lee Jun-il, Director of the Korean Peninsula Policy Department, had a phone call with his US and Japanese counterparts, Ms. Jung Pak and Mr. Yukiya Hamamoto, about the new developments. The announcement from the South Korean Foreign Ministry stated: The three sides shared the view that North Korea's missile launches violated the resolutions of the United Nations Security Council. These actions pose a serious threat to regional peace and security. The three sides agreed to continue to coordinate closely on this issue.
In another development, South Korean Defense Minister Shin Won-sik met with Admiral Samuel Paparo, the new head of the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, and General Paul LaCamera, commander of U.S. Forces Korea, to discuss enhancing the U.S. extended deterrence in the region and strengthening trilateral security cooperation with Japan. Both sides agreed on the importance of close cooperation among allies against regional threats.
Restraint if not dialogue
According to the South Korean newspaper Hankyoreh, the Korean Peninsula is in a period of severe political instability. Experts on North Korea call the current situation the biggest crisis on the Korean Peninsula since the Korean War. Despite this reality, the leaders of both Koreas continue to engage in a dangerous game. The two sides attack each other with accusatory words, declare that they will not start or avoid war, and carry out shows of force.
Moon Chung-in, a former special adviser to South Korean President Moon Jae-in and now an emeritus professor at Yonsei University, said that although the likelihood of the two Koreas preparing for an actual war is very low, there are concerns that an accidental clash could lead to not a conventional war, but a nuclear war. “Currently, tensions around the Northern Limit Line (NLL) are rising again. An accidental clash could lead to a regional war, an all-out war, or even a nuclear war,” Moon Chung-in said.
Therefore, according to Moon Chung-in, war must be avoided at all costs. He hopes that Seoul will focus its diplomatic and national security resources not on winning a war but on avoiding one. The safety and livelihood of the people must be the government's top priority. Moon Chung-in believes that both North and South Korea need to exercise restraint and caution; if there is no dialogue, the best option is restraint.
“We need to start the process of rebuilding trust by reducing or suspending military exercises on both sides of the border, by reopening inter-Korean communication lines and dialogue. It is also necessary to restore the September 19 inter-Korean military agreement. These measures will create momentum for rebuilding foreign policy focused on preventing conflict,” Moon Chung-in said.
MINH CHAU synthesis
Source: https://www.sggp.org.vn/khung-hoang-lon-tren-ban-dao-trieu-tien-post742332.html
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