North Korea fires missile after Harris leaves South Korea

Interational Desk//

North Korea fired two ballistic missiles Thursday just hours after US Vice President Kamala Harris left South Korea, where she had toured the heavily fortified Demilitarized Zone which divides the peninsula.

The launch was Pyongyang’s third in five days, continuing the nuclear-armed country’s record-breaking blitz of weapons tests this year.

Speaking at the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) earlier Thursday, Harris decried North Korea’s “brutal dictatorship, rampant human rights violations and an unlawful weapons programme that threatens peace and stability”.

She said that the US commitment to South Korea’s defence was “ironclad”, adding the allies were “aligned” in their response to the growing threat posed by the North’s weapons programmes.

Seoul and Washington want “a complete denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula” — but in the interim they are “ready to address any contingency”, she said.

At an observation post atop a steep hill overlooking North Korea, Harris peered through bulky binoculars as US and South Korean soldiers pointed out features, including defences, in the area.

“It’s so close,” she said.