Kim Jong Un's North Korea Conducts Fourth Missile Test In 2024, Alarms South Korea, Japan

Kim Jong Un‘s North Korea has carried out another missile test, marking its fourth this year. The missile, suspected to be a ballistic one, was launched towards the East Coast, as reported by South Korea’s military and Japan’s Coast Guard.

What Happened: The missile was fired on Monday, with specific launch details still undisclosed. This test comes in the wake of several recent missile trials conducted by North Korea, including a ballistic missile test on April 2. According to Bloomberg, this particular test was purportedly capable of deploying a hypersonic glide vehicle for delivering a nuclear payload.

These tests have raised concerns among neighboring countries, particularly in light of North Korea’s claim to have conducted a power test of a “super-large” warhead and a new anti-aircraft missile launch. The international community, led by the U.S., has been actively seeking to maintain pressure on North Korea.

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Why It Matters: The recent missile test comes amid ongoing international efforts to curb North Korea’s military activities. The U.S., South Korea, and Japan have been working to strengthen sanctions against North Korea, despite resistance from Russia and China.

Just last week, the U.S. and its Asian allies proposed the creation of a new panel to monitor sanctions imposed on North Korea, following a stalemate at the U.N. due to Russia’s refusal to renew the mandate for the existing panel of experts and China’s abstention from the vote.

Prior to this, the U.S. envoy had called out Russia and China for their support of North Korea, criticizing their actions for protecting North Korea from sanctions. This was followed by a summit between President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, where they discussed security concerns about North Korea and China.

Despite these efforts, North Korea has continued its missile tests, with leader Kim Jong Un supervising the launch of a new mid- to long-range solid-fuel, hypersonic missile, which was lauded as a strategic weapon that demonstrates the "absolute superiority" of North Korea's defense technology.

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