Kim Jong Un Launches 2 Ballistic Missiles After US Sends Nuclear Submarine To South Korea After 4 Decades

Kim Jong Un on Wednesday launched two ballistic missiles just hours after a U.S. ballistic missile submarine arrived in a South Korean port for the first time in four decades.

What Happened: North Korea launched two ballistic missiles eastward early on Wednesday, according to Japan’s and South Korea’s militaries, reported Reuters.

Japan condemned the missile launches as they fell outside the country’s exclusive economic zone. South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff also called on Pyongyang to cease such launches.

“We will make it impossible for North Korea to ever think of a nuclear provocation and have clearly warned that if it does, it will lead to the end of its regime,” South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol said aboard the submarine.

See Also: Kim Jong Un Scrambles Jets To Ward Off Alleged US Spy Plane, Citing ‘Grave Encroachment’ Upon Sovereignty And Security

Why It Matters: This launch comes nearly a week after North Korea tested its latest Hwasong-18 intercontinental ballistic missile, a launch Pyongyang said was a warning to the U.S. and other adversaries.

North Korea’s missile launches have been met with international condemnation. The U.S. has called for diplomacy with North Korea, condemning its missile tests as a violation of multiple UN Security Council resolutions.

Meanwhile, North Korea has repeatedly snubbed Washington’s offers of diplomacy, both publicly and privately. Kim’s isolated nation also vowed to respond more aggressively to any stronger military measures by the U.S. on the Korean peninsula.

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