Muhammad Muzahidul Islam :
North Korea welcomed the year by launching intermediate-range missile which is the first launch of 2024. It is not the first time that North Korea launched this type of missile. Unlike the Hwasong-17 it is a solid-fueled missile that North Korea also launched in April, July and December 2023. Aren’t these the provocative activities? Is it any good for the regional or global harmony, peace and stability?
Let me share the news of this launch. According to The Japan Times (Jan 14, 2024) “North Korea launched an apparent intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM) on Sunday – its first launch this year – with the missile falling into the Sea of Japan outside Japan’s exclusive economic zone.
The launch, the North’s first since it tested a Hwasong-18 solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missile on Dec. 18, landed in waters outside the EEZ, which extends 200 nautical miles (370 kilometers) from Japan’s coast, the Defense Ministry in Tokyo said. The South Korean military said the launch was of an IRBM-class weapon and traveled some 1,000 km before splashing down.”
Let us compare this launch with the earlier ones that were launched in last year. We can remember the liquid-fueled Hwasong-17 ICBM launch that was tested in March 2023. The type of a solid-fueled missile is different from that of Hwasong-17.
According to CNN “Solid-fueled ICBMs are more stable, and can be moved more easily to avoid detection before a launch that can be initiated in a matter of minutes, experts say – compared to liquid-fueled missiles that may need hours before launch, giving time for adversaries to detect and neutralize the weapon”.
I would like to mention that solid-fuel missiles have some advantages over the liquid-fueled weapons. According to The Japan Times (Jan 14, 2024)”North Korea in November claimed it had successfully tested new solid-fuel engines for IRBMs, in the nuclear-armed country’s latest development of a weapon capable of stealthily striking Japan and elsewhere. Solid-fuel missiles offer significant advantages for North Korea over the liquid-fueled weapons that make up the bulk of Pyongyang’s arsenal.
They are easier to deploy and can be fired off quicker, giving the United States and its allies less time to spot them and take them out”I would like to share with you the response of South Korea that was published on January 15, 2024 in CBS NEWS. And according to CBS NEWS “Lee Sung Joon, spokesperson of South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the military was analyzing the North’s latest test but declined to elaborate.
The South’s Defense Ministry demanded the North halt its ballistic testing activities that violate U.N. Security Council resolutions. It said the South Korean military was maintaining a firm joint defense posture with its U.S. allies and is ready to respond “overwhelmingly” in the event of a direct provocation by the North”.
CBS NEWS (January 15, 2024) further informs us that “North Korea earlier this month fired artillery shells near the disputed western sea boundary with South Korea, prompting the South to conduct similar firing in return. Kim has also used a political conference last week to define South Korea as the North’s “principal enemy” and threatened to annihilate it if provoked”.
Let me share with you the relevant UN resolutions that banned the use of ballistic missile technology. Resolution 2087 (2013) that was adopted by the Security Council at its 6904th meeting on 22 January 2013 provides that “1. Condemns the DPRK’s launch of 12 December 2012, which used ballistic missile technology and was in violation of resolutions 1718 (2006) and 1874 (2009); 2. Demands that the DPRK not proceed with any further launches using ballistic missile technology, and comply with resolutions 1718 (2006) and 1874 (2009) by suspending all activities related to its ballistic missile program and in this context re-establish its pre-existing commitments to a moratorium on missile launches; 3. Demands that the DPRK immediately comply fully with its obligations under resolutions 1718 (2006) and 1874 (2009), including that it: abandon all nuclear weapons and existing nuclear programs in a complete, verifiable and irreversible manner; immediately cease all related activities; and not conduct any further launches that use ballistic missile technology, nuclear test or any further provocation”.
Resolution 2094 (2013) that was adopted by the Security Council at its 6932nd meeting on 7 March 2013 also provides that “the DPRK shall not conduct any further launches that use ballistic missile technology, nuclear tests or any other provocation”.
UN Security Council is mandated under Chapter VII of the UN Charter to take necessary measures against the activities that pose to international peace and security. It must be noted that UN sanctions resolutions are measures of UN Security Council under article 41 of the UN Charter to address the activities that pose a threat to international peace and security.
Finally, we can conclude that these activities may be found to be provocative. Those may further be found to be in violation of UN resolutions. And certainly, those can’t be any good for the global or regional peace, harmony and stability. To maintain the international peace and security the international community should take it seriously. And this is the expectation of the peace-loving people.
(The author is a barrister-at-law, human rights activist and an advocate at the Supreme Court of Bangladesh).
