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After Biden Visit, North Korea Launches Ballistic Missiles

by William Gallo

   SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA --

   North Korea fired three ballistic missiles Wednesday, South Korea
   reported, hours after U.S. President Joe Biden wrapped up a visit to
   Northeast Asia.

   In an alert to reporters, South Korea's military said North Korea
   launched the missiles from the Sunan area of Pyongyang toward the sea
   off its east coast.

   Japan's coast guard also reported North Korea launched a pair of
   suspected ballistic missiles.

   The reason for the discrepancy between the number of missiles reported
   by Japan and South Korea was not immediately clear. There is also no
   indication about the missiles' range or where they may have landed.

   U.S. officials had repeatedly warned that North Korea was preparing to
   conduct a long-range missile test, or perhaps even a nuclear test,
   during or around Biden's trip to Asia.

   Biden on late Tuesday wrapped up his six-day tour of South Korea and
   Japan. The nuclear-armed North regularly came up in his discussions.

   At a Tuesday meeting of the Quad -- a regional grouping of democracies
   that includes the United States, Australia, Japan and India -- Biden
   and his counterparts condemned North Korea's "destabilizing ballistic
   missile development and launches."

   North Korea has conducted 17 rounds of launches this year. In March, it
   tested an intercontinental ballistic missile, its first such test in
   nearly five years.

   The North has multiple possible motives for testing weapons, including
   pressuring the United States, shoring up domestic political support for
   leader Kim Jong Un, ensuring the performance of new weapons and
   demonstrating deterrence.