Pyongyang launches cruise missiles after US submarine arrives

North Korea has launched two more cruise missiles, the South Korean military command said. The missiles landed in the water east of the North Korean coast. Japanese media also write, based on government sources, about the launch of “several North Korean cruise missiles”.

The launches appear to be in response to the arrival of a second US nuclear submarine in South Korea. After the arrival of a first submarine last week, the Pyongyang regime launched its first series of cruise missiles. It was the first time since the 1980s that an American submarine carrying nuclear missiles had docked in South Korea.

Tension

This has increased tensions between North Korea on the one hand and South Korea and the United States on the other. Pyongyang threatened last week that the deployment of US missile-equipped submarines would justify the use of nuclear weapons.

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South Korea said such action by North Korea would lead to an “immediate and decisive response”, bringing about the end of dictator Kim Jong-un’s rule.