{"id":71953,"date":"2022-09-29T18:31:46","date_gmt":"2022-09-29T18:31:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/uncategorized\/2022\/09\/29\/north-korea-fires-missiles-after-harris-leaves-south-korea\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T14:26:49","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T14:26:49","slug":"north-korea-fires-missiles-after-harris-leaves-south-korea","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/flashpoints\/2022\/09\/29\/north-korea-fires-missiles-after-harris-leaves-south-korea\/","title":{"rendered":"North Korea fires missiles after Harris leaves South Korea"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

PANMUNJOM, Korea \u2014 In a show of defiance, North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles into the sea on Thursday, hours after U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris flew home from a visit to South Korea during which she traveled to the Demilitarized Zone separating the two Koreas and emphasized the \u201cironclad\u201d U.S. commitment to the security of its Asian allies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was the third round of missile launches by North Korea this week<\/a>, extending a record pace in weapons testing as it accelerates a push to expand its arsenal and pressure Washington to accept it as a nuclear power.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

South Korea\u2019s Joint Chiefs of Staff said the missiles were fired nine minutes apart from an area just north of the capital, Pyongyang, and flew toward waters between the Korean Peninsula and Japan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Japan\u2019s military said it also detected the launches. North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles on Wednesday, while Harris was in Japan, and one before she left Washington on Sunday<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"U.S.
U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris, right, uses binoculars at the military observation post as she visits the demilitarized zone separating the two Koreas, in Panmunjom, South Korea Thursday, Sept. 29, 2022. (Leah Millis\/Pool Photo via AP)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Harris earlier capped her four-day trip to Asia with a meeting with South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and a stop at the Demilitarized Zone, where she addressed the threat posed by the increasingly hostile North.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are concerns that North Korea may soon conduct a nuclear test, which would move the country closer to being acknowledged as a full-fledged nuclear power.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Visiting the DMZ has become something of a ritual for American leaders hoping to show their resolve to stand firm against aggression.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the DMZ, Harris went to the top of a ridge, near guard towers and security cameras. She looked through bulky binoculars as a South Korean officer pointed out military installations on the southern side. Then an American officer pointed out some of the defenses along the military demarcation line, including barbed-wire fences and claymore mines. He said American soldiers regularly walk patrols along a path.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s so close,\u201d Harris said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Harris then visited one of a row of blue buildings that straddle the demarcation line, where an American officer explained how the buildings are still used to conduct negotiations with North Korea. Sometimes they pass messages back and forth and sometimes they use a megaphone, he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat\u2019s high tech,\u201d Harris joked, before adding, \u201cWe\u2019ve stepped into history.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s still going,\u201d the colonel said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Harris agreed. \u201cThe past and present are happening every day.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She then walked out of the building and up to the demarcation line. On the North Korean side, two figures dressed in what appeared to be hazmat suits peeked out from behind a curtain in a second-floor window. Then they disappeared back inside.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Harris described this week\u2019s missile launches as provocations meant to \u201cdestabilize the region\u201d and said the United States and South Korea remain committed to the \u201ccomplete denuclearization\u201d of the North.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI cannot state enough that commitment of the United States to the defense of the Republic of Korea is ironclad,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn the South, we see a thriving democracy. In the North, we see a brutal dictatorship,\u201d she said before flying out of the border on a U.S. military helicopter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Earlier, Harris met with President Yoon at his office in Seoul and reaffirmed the U.S. commitment to defend the South with a full range of its military capabilities in the event of war, Yoon\u2019s office said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They expressed concern over North Korea\u2019s threats of nuclear conflict and pledged an unspecified stronger response to major North Korean provocations, including a nuclear test.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Harris and Yoon were also expected to discuss expanding economic and technology partnerships and repairing recently strained ties between South Korea and Japan<\/a> to strengthen their trilateral cooperation with Washington in the region. Their meeting also touched on Taiwan, with both reaffirming their countries\u2019 support for \u201cpeace and stability\u201d in the Taiwan Strait, according to Yoon\u2019s office, which didn\u2019t elaborate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Harris\u2019 trip was organized so she could attend the state funeral of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe<\/a>, but her itinerary was dominated by security concerns, a reflection of fears about China\u2019s growing power and North Korea\u2019s ramped-up testing activity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In every meeting, Harris tried to lay to rest any fears that the United States was wavering in its commitment to protect its allies, describing American partnerships with South Korea and Japan as the \u201clinchpin\u201d and \u201ccornerstone\u201d of its defense strategy in Asia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yoon, who took office earlier this year, had anchored his election campaign with vows to deepen Seoul\u2019s economic and security partnership with Washington to navigate challenges posed by the North Korean threat and address potential supply chain risks caused by the pandemic, the U.S.-China rivalry and Russia\u2019s war on Ukraine. But the alliance has been marked by tension recently.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

South Koreans have decried a new law signed by President Joe Biden<\/a> that prevents electric cars built outside of North America from being eligible for U.S. government subsidies, undermining the competitiveness of automakers like Seoul-based Hyundai.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During their meeting, Harris told Yoon that Washington will try to address South Korean concerns as the law is implemented, Yoon\u2019s office said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Scott Snyder, an analyst at the Council on Foreign Relations, said the dispute over electric vehicles has swiftly become a firestorm that U.S. officials cannot ignore, although there may not be a simple solution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s taking on a level of urgency that\u2019s making it into a political problem that requires management,\u201d Snyder said. \u201cI don\u2019t know that it\u2019s going to be easy for the Biden administration to do that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are indications North Korea may up its weapons demonstrations soon. South Korean officials said last week that they detected signs North Korea was preparing to test a ballistic missile system designed to be fired from submarines.<\/p>\n\n\n\t