North Korea Fires Barrage Of Ballistic Missiles Toward Sea Ahead Of U.S. Election

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) North Korea fired a barrage of short-range ballistic missiles into the sea on Tuesday, its neighbors said, as it continued its weapons demonstrations hours before the U.S. presidential election.

Japanese Defense Minister Gen Nakatani said at least seven North Korean missiles flew as far as 400 kilometers (250 miles) with a maximum altitude of 100 kilometers (60 miles). He said they landed in the waters between the Korean Peninsula and Japan.

North Koreas actions, including a series of repeated missile launches, threaten the peace and safety of Japan, the region and the international community, Nakatani said.

South Koreas military also detected several missile launches by North Korea and subsequently boosted its surveillance posture. The North Korean missiles could be used to target key facilities in South Korea, including U.S. military bases there.

The launches came days after North Korean leader Kim Jong Un supervised a flight test of the countrys newest intercontinental ballistic missile d esigned to reach the U.S. mainland. In response to that launch, the United States flew a long-range B-1B bomber in a trilateral drill with South Korea and Japan on Sunday in a show of force. That drew condemnation from Kims powerful sister Kim Yo Jong, who on Tuesday accused North Koreas rivals of raising tensions with aggressive and adventuristic military threats.

South Korean officials have said that North Korea was likely to dial up its military displays around the U.S. presidential election to command the attention of Washington. South Koreas military intelligence agency said last week that North Korea has also likely completed preparations for its seventh nuclear test.

Outside officials and analysts say North Korea eventually hopes to use an expanded nuclear arsenal as leverage to win concessions such as sanctions relief after a new U.S. president is elected.

There are widespread views that Kim Jong Un would prefer a win by Republican candidate Donald Trump , with whom he engaged in high-stakes nuclear diplomacy in 2018-19, seeing him as a more likely counterpart to give him what he wants than Democratic candidate Kamala Harris . During campaigning, Harris said she wont cozy up to tyrants and dictators like Kim Jong Un who are rooting for Trump.

North Korea claimed that the Hwasong-19 it tested on Oct. 31 was the worlds strongest ICBM, but experts say the solid-fuel missile is too big to be useful in war. Experts say North Korea has yet to acquire some critical technologies to build a functioning ICBM, such as ensuring that the warhead survives the harsh conditions of atmospheric re-entry.

Tensions between the Koreas are at their highest point in years as Kim has repeatedly flaunted his expanding nuclear weapon and missile programs, while reportedly providing Russia with munitions and troops to support President Vladimir Putins war in Ukraine.

On Monday, U.S. State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller told reporters that as many as 10,000 North Korean soldiers were in Russias Kursk region near Ukraines border and were preparing to join Moscows fight against Ukraine in the coming days. If they engage in combat, it would be North Koreas first participation in a large-scale conflict since the end of the 1950-53 Korean War.

After a meeting in Seoul on Monday, senior South Korean and European Union officials expressed concerns about Russias possible transfer of technology to North Korea to enhance its nuclear program in exchange for its troops. Such transfers would jeopardize the international non-proliferation efforts and threaten peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula and across the globe, they said.

In response to North Koreas growing nuclear threat, South Korea, the United States and Japan have been expanding their combined military exercises. North Korea has portrayed such U.S.-led military drills as rehearsals for an invasion and used them to justify its relentless pursuit of nuclear weapons and missiles.

At a U.N. Security Council meeting Monday, North Koreas ambassador, Kim Song, defended the Norths nuclear and ICBM programs as a necessary response to what it perceives as nuclear threats from the United States. U.S. Deputy Ambassador Robert Wood warned that the U.S. cannot stand back from North Koreas expanding nuclear program and the growing threat to U.S. security without a response.

Wood also repeated last weeks call for Russia to say whether there are North Korean troops on the ground in Russia. Were not in a court here, Russian Deputy Ambassador Anna Evstigneeva replied, and the questions of the United States, in the spirit of an interrogation, is not something I intend to answer.

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Yamaguchi reported from Tokyo. Associated Press writer Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations contributed to this report.