Lewis said Wednesday’s test was similar to past tests that the
US has claimed are related to development of a new ICBM.
The Pentagon said in March that two North Korean ballistic missile tests conducted on February 26 and March 4 were not intended to demonstrate ICBM range or capability, but were “likely to evaluate this new system before conducting a test at full range in the future, potentially disguised as a space launch.”
Japan also reported at least two missiles fired from North Korea, with one of those flying in an “irregular trajectory” at a distance of about 750 kilometers (466 miles), Japanese Defense Minister Nobuo Kishi said.
Kishi said that missile landed just outside of Japan’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).
In response to North Korea’s latest tests, South Korea and the US each fired a missile into the sea off the Korean Peninsula, the JCS said. A US military statement confirmed those launches.
“It demonstrated that our military has the ability and readiness to precisely strike the origin of provocation with our overwhelming force,” the JCS added.
The South Korean air force also conducted an “elephant walk” on Wednesday, taxiing some 30 F-15K armed fighter jets on the runway as a show of strength, the JCS said.
Last week, a US official
warned that North Korea appeared to be preparing for an ICBM test during Biden’s trip, after satellite imagery revealed activity at a launch site near the capital, Pyongyang.
Biden met with
South Korea’s new President Yoon Suk Yeol over the weekend, where the two leaders said they would begin exploring an expansion of joint military drills between their countries.
When asked whether he would meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, Biden said it would “depend on whether he’s sincere and whether he’s serious.”
To date, Biden’s strategy has yet to yield a working meeting with North Korea in the year since the administration completed a review of the US policy toward the hermit kingdom, a senior administration official said, adding that “it has not been for lack of trying.”
Meanwhile, Yoon said South Korea and its allies stand ready for any acts of North Korean provocation.
Last month Kim vowed to “strengthen and develop”
its nuclear forces at the “highest possible” speed.
The latest launches mark the 16th time that North Korea has tested its missiles this year, including what the US believes was a failed ICBM test on May 4 that exploded shortly after launch.
But North Korea is thought to have tested an ICBM in late March.
That missile flew to an altitude of 6,000 kilometers (3,728 miles) and a distance of 1,080 kilometers (671 miles) with a flight time of 71 minutes before splashing down in waters off Japan’s western coast, according to Japan’s Defense Ministry.
US military and intelligence agencies assess Pyongyang may also be preparing for its first underground nuclear test in nearly five years.