North Korea Launches More Missiles, Denounces Joint Military Exercises

 

North Korea again launched ballistic missiles into the sea early Tuesday. The action appeared to be in answer to military exercises involving the United States and South Korea that begin this week. North Korea expressed anger, warning it may take a “new road” because of the exercises.

In a statement, South Korea’s Joint¹ Chiefs of Staff said North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles from the western part of the country. The missiles are reported to have traveled about 450 kilometers.

North Korea has launched short-range ballistic missiles four times in less than two weeks. The actions have raised concerns about the possibility of lower-level talks on ending the country’s nuclear weapons program. U.S. officials had hoped those talks would begin last month, but so far a date has not been set.

Exercises a ‘violation²'

Minutes before the latest test, North Korea’s foreign ministry³ released a statement condemning⁴ the military exercises. The statement said the exercises were a “flagrant violation” of its recent agreements with the United States and South Korea.

“We have already warned several times that the joint military exercises would block progress…and bring us into reconsideration of our earlier major steps,” said a North Korean foreign ministry spokesperson. The statement was reported by the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

KCNA also reported that the foreign ministry spokesman said North Korea may “seek a new road” as it has “already indicated.”

The U.S. and South Korea on Monday moved ahead with the joint exercises which they say are defensive⁶ in nature. At the same time, the two nations asked North Korea to attend lower-level nuclear talks.

In an email to VOA, a U.S. Forces Korea spokesman said the U.S. military will continue training with South Korean forces. He refused to discuss the military exercises, saying he wanted to leave room for “diplomacy⁷ to work.”

The U.S. and South Korea have reduced or canceled several planned military exercises since last year. The changes are part of an agreement reached between U.S. President Donald Trump⁸ and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

A top U.S. defense⁹ official spoke⁵ to reporters on a military aircraft flying to Tokyo. He said the U.S. would like to see North Korea reduce or cancel some of its military exercises. Some experts, however, say North Korea appears to have no plans to do so.

"So they're going to continue their winter training exercises…and yet, they want us to completely end ours?" asks Bradley Bowman of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.

All of South Korea within reach

A spokesperson for South Korea’s presidential office said an emergency meeting was called to discuss the latest North Korean launch.

Speaking in Tokyo Tuesday, U.S. Secretary of Defense Mark Esper said the U.S. takes the launchings seriously.

"We monitor them. We try to understand what they’re doing and why. We also need to be careful not to overreact and not to get ourselves in a situation where diplomacy is closed off,” he said.

Intelligence officials say the weapons North Korea launched Tuesday appear similar to the short-range ballistic missiles tested on July 25, said South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff.

North Korea on July 25 launched its version of a Russian-made Iskander short-range ballistic missile. It appears to be designed to overcome U.S. and South Korean missile defenses. Since then, North Korea has also tested a new multiple rocket launcher.

Because the missiles traveled a distance of 450 kilometers, it “means that all of South Korean territory is within firing range,” says Kim Dong-yub. He is a North Korea expert at Seoul’s Institute for Far Eastern Studies.

Trump has said he has “no problem” with North Korea’s recent missile launches because they are short-range. He wants to continue talks with North Korea.

In a series of tweets last week, the president said the missile tests “are not a violation of our signed Singapore agreement, nor was there discussion of short-range missiles.”

“There may be a United Nations violation, but Chairman Kim (Jong Un) does not want…a violation of trust,” Trump said. “There is far too much for North Korea to gain.”

I’m Susan Shand.

Words in this Story

ballistic missile – n. a weapon that is shot through the sky over a great distance and then falls to the ground and explode

flagrant –adj. obvious, not hidden in any way

indicate – v. to say or explain

monitor – v. to watch

multiple – adj. several

1 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

2 violation   

n.违反(行为)，违背(行为)，侵犯

参考例句：

• He roared that was a violation of the rules.他大声说，那是违反规则的。
• He was fined 200 dollars for violation of traffic regulation.他因违反交通规则被罚款200美元。

3 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

4 condemning   

v.（通常因道义上的原因而）谴责( condemn的现在分词 )；宣判；宣布…不能使用；迫使…陷于不幸的境地

参考例句：

• The government issued a statement condemning the killings. 政府发表声明谴责这些凶杀事件。
• I concur with the speaker in condemning what has been done. 我同意发言者对所做的事加以谴责。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

5 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

6 defensive   

adj.防御的；防卫的；防守的

参考例句：

• Their questions about the money put her on the defensive.他们问到钱的问题，使她警觉起来。
• The Government hastily organized defensive measures against the raids.政府急忙布置了防卫措施抵御空袭。

7 diplomacy   

n.外交；外交手腕，交际手腕

参考例句：

• The talks have now gone into a stage of quiet diplomacy.会谈现在已经进入了“温和外交”阶段。
• This was done through the skill in diplomacy. 这是通过外交手腕才做到的。

8 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

9 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。