Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and his South Korean counterpart vowed Thursday that any nuclear attack from North Korea against the United States or South Korea would mean the end of the Kim Jong-un regime. The statement came hours after Pyongyang launched a fresh missile barrage that included a test of an intercontinental ballistic missile that has sent tensions soaring across the region.
Minister of National Defense Lee Jong-sup was in Washington on Thursday for previously scheduled high-level talks. Topping the agenda was the record number of launches by Pyongyang this week, including nearly two dozen missiles on Wednesday alone, the most in a single day. The North has said its latest display — which some see as a prelude to a nuclear weapons test — is in protest of U.S.-South Korean military exercises that it considers a threat to its security.
Pak Jong-chon, secretary of the Central Committee of North Korea’s ruling Workers’ Party, said in a statement that it was Washington and Seoul that were “shoving” the situation out of control with the decision to extend substantial military drills that kicked off Monday.
“The United States and South Korea will find that they have made a terrible mistake that cannot be reversed,” Mr. Pak said.
The joint U.S.-South Korean statement is “a strong warning” to North Korea, Mr. Lee told reporters during a joint press conference at the Pentagon. The two allies announced that the training exercises would not only continue but be extended beyond their scheduled closing date.
Mr. Austin noted that North Korea launched the missiles, including five shorter-range ballistic missiles, as South Koreans were mourning the loss of more than 150 Halloween revelers who were killed in a stampede in Seoul’s popular Itaewon district.
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“It’s highly unfortunate that [North Korea] has chosen to interrupt this solemn period with the illegal and destabilizing launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile last night, as well as additional missile launches today,” Mr. Austin said.
One of the North Korean missiles launched on Wednesday landed about 16 miles south of the Northern Limit Line, the unofficial but traditionally observed maritime boundary between North and South Korea. Officials in Seoul said it was the first time that a missile sent by Pyongyang had landed so close to South Korea’s territorial waters since the division of the peninsula in 1953.
It was not clear how effective Pyongyang’s show of force would be. South Korean press reports said military officials there believe the ICBM fired Thursday by the North, believed to be a Hwasong-17 model, failed to complete its mission. Officials in Tokyo, who said the long-range missile was on course to fly over Japanese territory, later said it did not enter Japanese airspace. Two of the North’s seven previous ICBM missile launches this year also aborted short of their planned flight paths.
The Hwasong-17 is believed to be able to carry multiple nuclear warheads and has an estimated range that could theoretically hit much of the U.S. mainland. A test failure Thursday could push back any plans for a North Korean nuclear test, South Korean military analysts said.
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol condemned the missile launches and, within hours, South Korea’s air force responded with three air-to-surface missiles from F-15K and KF-16 jet fighters that landed north of the Northern Limit Line.
The North Korean missile launches also prompted the U.S. and South Korea to extend their “Vigilant Storm” exercises. The military drills involve more than 200 combat aircraft and thousands of troops. The maneuvers were scheduled to end on Friday.
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“We’ll continue to work closely together to develop options to protect the United States and our allies in the region,” Mr. Austin said.
The North has not tested a nuclear device since 2017. The test infuriated the Trump administration but led in time to a surprising string of summits between Mr. Kim and President Trump. The personal diplomacy broke down over what the U.S. said was the North’s unwillingness to fully abandon its nuclear program.
Despite the tough talk, analysts warn that another North Korea nuclear test would present an excruciating diplomatic and security dilemma for the U.S., which would seek a forceful response without setting off a nuclear exchange on the densely populated peninsula.
A North Korean nuclear test “would lay bare how few options Washington has left in its diplomatic playbook to try and convince North Korea to dismantle its nuclear weapons program,” Robbie Gramer and Jack Detsch wrote in an analysis of the standoff for Foreign Policy.com. “High-level talks between [Mr. Trump and Mr. Kim] ended in failure. The Biden administration has said its door remains open to talks with North Korea at any time, but so far, those overtures have been met with total radio silence.”
Citing diplomats in New York, the Reuters news agency said the Biden administration has asked the U.N. Security Council to convene publicly on North Korea on Friday. The request was backed by fellow council members Britain, France, Albania, Ireland and Norway. Sharper action against Pyongyang has long been blocked by China and Russia, which have veto power as permanent members of the Security Council.
Shared values
South Korea’s Mr. Lee said that, despite the current strains, the bond between Seoul and Washington is strong because they share values such as democracy, respect for human rights and the rule of law. He said this year’s bilateral defense summit meeting was productive despite North Korea’s attempts to distract.
“We agree to further strengthen the alliance’s capabilities and postures,” Mr. Lee said through a translator.
Mr. Austin said that, in the face of the Kim regime’s “provocations and destabilizing actions,” the U.S. remains fully committed to the defense of its South Korean ally.
“At this time of heightened tensions, our alliance is ironclad. That includes the full range of our nuclear, conventional and missile defense capabilities,” Mr. Austin said.
The U.S. has shown its commitment to the defense of South Korea by sending fifth-generation combat aircraft like the F-35 Lightning II to conduct joint flight operations. The USS Ronald Reagan aircraft carrier has also been dispatched to the area, Mr. Austin said.
“On the peninsula, we’re returning to large-scale exercises to strengthen our combined readiness and our ability to fight tonight if necessary,” the defense secretary said. “We’re committed to building on these efforts to strengthen integrated deterrence and to ensure that this alliance continues to bolster security and stability on the Korean Peninsula and throughout the Indo-Pacific.”
Although U.S. combat units will make regular deployments to South Korea, Mr. Austin said, there will be “no new deployment of U.S. strategic assets on a permanent basis.”
Republican leaders on Capitol Hill said North Korea is emboldened to take destabilizing measures like firing ICBMs at its neighbors because of the Biden administration’s “weakness on the world stage” and the support of Pyongyang’s ally in Beijing.
“North Korea’s aggression will continue until the White House shows King Jong-un that nuclear and ICBM belligerence doesn’t pay,” said Rep. Michael T. McCaul of Texas, the senior Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee. “I strongly urge the administration to put forward a strategy that supports our allies, [South Korea] and Japan, and begins dealing with Kim from a position of strength.”
• This article is based in part on wire service reports.
• Mike Glenn can be reached at mglenn@washingtontimes.com.
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