N. Korean missile launches forced measure; U.S., allies should respect DPRK's right to self-defense - military expert
MOSCOW. May 14 (Interfax-AVN) - The missile launches carried out by North Korea are testament primarily to its desire to ensure its own national security in the face of the military threat emanating from the United States and its partners in the region, according to Maj. Gen. Vladimir Bogatyryov, a military expert who worked in the Defense Ministry's central apparatus before transferring to reserve.
"Today's missile launch carried out by North Korea is yet another attestation of the DPRK [Democratic People's Republic of Korea] trying in every possible way to exercise its right to defend its national interests," Bogatyryov told Interfax-AVN on Sunday.
It is time for Washington and its allies, and the global community to look at the problem of security on the Korean peninsula from a different perspective, by taking into account not only their own interests, but Pyongyang's concerns as well, the expert said.
"Constant threats to solve the problem militarily, encroachments on the DPRK's sovereignty, the large-scale joint drills held by the U.S. with Japan and South Korea near North Korea's border, are forcing Pyongyang to keep its gunpowder dry, by maintaining combat readiness at the highest level, including by regularly 'snarling' missile launches," Bogatyryov said.
He sees it as no security threat to Russia.
"The means of air defense and missile defense available in the responsibility zone of the Eastern Military District are capable of assuredly countering potential threats which may arise during missile launches carried out by North Korea, given that they always fly in the direction away from the Russian border, and not vice versa," Bogatyryov said.
On Sunday morning North Korea carried out a medium-range missile launch. According to available data, the missile was launched from a test site in the northwest of the country, near Kusong in the Phyonganbukto province, towards Japan. It flew about 700 kilometers and fell into the Sea of Japan.
The type of the missile is not yet known. It was reported earlier that North Korea was planning to launch a KN-17 medium-range ballistic missile.
Experts reckon that this is at least the tenth DPRK missile launch since U.S. President Donald Trump took office.
