The Ballistic Missile Fired By The Sign Pyongyang Not Playing Rejects Joint South Korean-US Exercise?

Photo taken from state media KCNA

JAKARTA - North Korea launched an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) into the East Sea (Japan Sea) on Saturday 18 February. Is North Korea trying to prove that the threat has not been bad?

Previously, North Korea had thrown a threat immediately in response to plans for South Korea and the United States to hold joint annual military exercises. The drills are to fend off increased nuclear and missile threats from North Korea.

North Korea's Foreign Ministry has again accused the United States of stoking tensions and using the UN Security Council (DK PBB), as an illegal hostile policy tool to suppress Pyongyang.

"If it's a US option to show its muscles and fight everything with muscles, the same goes for the DPRK option," the ministry said in a statement broadcast by state media KCNA.

The ministry uses the country's official name acronym, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

"If the US and South Korea carry out their planned military exercises that have been announced by the DPRK... consider them preparation for the war of aggression, they will face strong and persistent resistance that has never happened before," the statement said.

The day after, Pyongyang seemed to want to provide evidence that their threat was not a figment. Ballistic missiles were released around 17:22. South Korea-US Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) suspected the missile was launched from Pyongyang although the location of the details could not be ascertained.

The missile flew 66 minutes and landed 125 miles (200 km) west of Hokkaido within the country's exclusive economic zone (EEZ).

This is North Korea's first ballistic missile launch in 2023. The missile is now considered a serious provocation of North Korea to the US-Japanese-South Korean.