The United States and South Korea retaliated against North Korea’s recent ballistic missile testing with a military demonstration of their own.
On Monday, June 6, the allies engaged in a live-fire exercise, firing off eight Army Tactical Missile System missiles into South Korean waters, reported AP News.
The flurry of missile launches followed North Korea’s firing of eight short-range ballistic missiles the day before, a single-day record for the country.
Speaking at a South Korean Memorial Day event, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol warned, “North Korea’s nuclear weapons and missile programs have grown to a point where they are not only a threat to the Korean Peninsula, but to Northeast Asia and world peace.”
North Korea’s latest military demonstration marks Pyongyang’s eighteenth round of missile tests in 2022, a year that also saw the country’s first successful intercontinental ballistic missiles in several years.
A spokesperson for China’s foreign ministry called on all involved countries to “maintain calm and exercise restraint, and avoid any actions that may aggravate tensions,” according to AP News.
Despite its seemingly nonpartisan statements, China serves as North Korea’s economic lifeline and diplomatic benefactor on the world stage.
Recently, both China and Russia vetoed a U.S.-sponsored resolution at the UN that would have imposed more sanctions on North Korea for ballistic missile tests conducted on May 25.
China insisted the United States focus on resurrecting negotiations with Pyongyang rather than pursue additional punitive sanctions.
“The situation on the Peninsula has developed to what it is today thanks primarily to the flip flop U.S. policies and failure to uphold the results of previous dialogues,” said China’s UN ambassador, Zhang Jun, per Reuters.
Diplomatic talks between the United States and North Korea over the latter’s nuclear program have been on ice since 2019.
