North Korea fires two short-range missiles during coronavirus crisis

Text by: RFI Follow

Pyongyang fired two projectiles this Saturday, March 21, towards the Sea of ​​Japan, presumably short-range ballistic missiles, in the midst of a global health crisis linked to the coronavirus pandemic.

Publicity

The two missiles were launched from the North Pyongan province in the west of the country, the South Korean army said. In Tokyo , the Ministry of Defense said it had also detected what appeared to be " one or more ballistic missile type projectiles ".

Seoul deemed the shootings " extremely unwelcome given the plight the world faces as a result of Covid-19 " , the disease caused by the new coronavirus. North Korea has not reported any contamination on its soil, which many doubt in South Korea .

Why shoot now?

North Korea has stepped up arms testing since November in the absence of progress in the negotiations by which the United States hopes to abandon its nuclear program.

Analysts say Pyongyang is gradually refining its capabilities, despite sanctions and convictions. The North Koreans would like to trivialize their missile tests. In early March, deadlocked over negotiations between Washington and Pyongyang on North Korea's nuclear and ballistic programs, the country had fired similar shots twice.

This time, the projectiles having crossed all the country from west to east, it is about an exercise from coast to coast , underlined on Twitter Ankit Panda, of the Federation of American Scientists , a NGOs scrutinizing the risks linked to nuclear power. This expert, however, said he expected more details from the North Korean news agency KCNA on the type of weapon tested. During the latest tests to date, the official agency had communicated on this subject the day after the shooting.

May 9 2019 test took place in North Pyongan Province, when two "NK Iskander" SRBM were fired. Its adjacent South Pyongan Province was the venue for Sept and Oct test when the North fired two projectiles each from its super-large caliber MRL system.https: //t.co/7KNRX3rswj

The Korean peninsula had experienced remarkable relaxation in 2018, illustrated by historic meetings between North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and American President Donald Trump. But negotiations on denuclearization have stalled since the second summit between the two leaders, in February 2019 in Hanoi.

Shortly before the Yonhap agency mentioned the shooting, KCNA had announced a convocation on April 10 of its Supreme People's Assembly, its Parliament. Analysts believe that this would bring together some 700 people, while such regroupings have been banned in many countries in an attempt to slow down the coronavirus pandemic.

What is the situation of the epidemic in North Korea?

Has Covid-19 spread to the country? This is what suggests the decisions of Pyongyang, which closed its borders and adopted drastic containment measures against the epidemic. Travel is severely restricted. the regime launched a mask campaign. Elites found to be corrupt and in breach of quarantine are publicly punished. Medical facilities were built in a hurry.

Affected by international sanctions due to its banned nuclear and ballistic programs, the country has a notoriously weak health system. Prevention seems to Pyongyang the only way to avoid a massacre.

Our selection on SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus

• Listen to Infos coronavirus , our daily column on the Covid-19

• An infographic: The coronavirus in 7 points

• Practical questions:
→ Who are the vulnerable people ?
→ What should you do when you think you are contaminated ?
→ Quarantine, what are we talking about ?
→ What treatments ? The effectiveness of an antimalarial drug in question

Find all our articles, reports, chronicles and programs on the coronavirus by clicking here .

Newsletter With the Daily Newsletter, find the headlines directly in your mailbox

Download the app

• North Korea
• Coronavirus
• Kim Jong-un
• South Korea
• China

On the same subject

Coronavirus: Low number of official cases in Japan fuel mistrust

Coronavirus: new outbreak in South Korea

Accents of the world

Trump-Kim summit in Hanoi fails