In lieu of their recent launch of some of their warheads, the United States Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has described North Korea’s intercontinental ballistic missile launch as completely “illegal and destabilizing,”
Defense Secretary Austin had also branded North Korea’s actions “irresponsible and reckless” during a joint news conference at the Pentagon alongside his South Korean counterpart Lee Jong-sup.
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South Korea’s military had also revealed earlier that the ICBM launch had been part of a salvo of missiles which had been fired on Thursday — was “presumed to have ended in failure and in response to the launches, South Korea and the United States have also revealed that they would be extendng their ongoing joint air drills, the largest-ever such exercises — a move Pyongyang immediately branded “an irrevocable and awful mistake.”
Washington and Seoul have repeatedly warned that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s recent missile launches could culminate in another nuclear test — which would also be Pyongyang’s seventh.
North Korea had reportedly revised its laws in September to allow for some of the pre-emptive nuclear strikes, with Kim declaring the country to be an “irreversible” nuclear power — effectively ending negotiations over its recent banned arms programs.
OIn another reolrtThe Government of the United States has accused North Korea of quietly supplying Russia with what it described as a ‘significant’ number of artillery shells to be used in Ukraine, as Moscow increasingly looks to allies for help with the war effort.
Mr. John Kirby who is the US National Security Council spokesman while speaking to reporters on Thursday submitted that the alleged North Korean weapon shipments were very much less likely to change the course of the conflict, stressing Western efforts to support the Ukrainian military.
‘Our indications are that the DPRK is covertly supplying, and we are going to monitor to see whether the shipments are received,’ Kirby told reporters, referring to North Korea by the acronym of its official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
He did not share details about the mode of transportation or whether the US would attempt to interdict the shipments to Russia.