The sister of the head of the DPRK, Kim Jong-un, and deputy head of the Central Committee (CC) of the Workers’ Party of Korea, Kim Yo-jong, said on February 20 that in response to US actions, North Korea may intensify missile launches into the Pacific Ocean. Her words are quoted by the Central Telegraph Agency of the DPRK (CTAC).
She noted that the movement of US strategic strike assets has intensified on the Korean Peninsula. Pyongyang takes into account their impact on the security of the DPRK and will take appropriate retaliatory measures, Kim Yo-jong stressed.
“The frequency of using the Pacific Ocean as our testing ground depends on the nature of the actions of American troops,” she said.
The last time a missile launched by North Korea flew over Japan and fell into the Pacific Ocean on October 4 last year. Prior to this, Pyongyang conducted such tests only in September 2017.
On the eve of the DPRK launched three missiles in the direction of the Sea of Japan. All of them fell outside the exclusive economic zone of Japan.
On February 18, the North Korean military launched an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) Hwasong-15. The rocket flew 989 km and rose to a height of 5768 km.
Later, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida confirmed this information. According to him, the projectile fell inside the economic zone of Japan to the west of the island of Hokkaido.
In this regard, the Japan Air Self-Defense Force and the US Air Force conducted joint exercises with the participation of combat aircraft due to the launch of ICBMs by the DPRK.
In turn, North Korea published a video of the launch of the Hwasong-15 ICBM. It is believed to be capable of reaching the US mainland. However, in this case, it flew much less, falling 200 km west of Hokkaido.
