China on Thursday blamed the United States for the current tense climate on the Korean peninsula, after North Korea fired a new ballistic missile.
The shot triggered a brief alert on the Japanese island of Hokkaido on Thursday, but Tokyo confirmed the missile did not hit Japanese soil.
When asked for comment, Chinese diplomatic spokesman Wang Wenbin sided with North Korea and blamed the United States for the tensions, according to the French news agency AFP.
“The current climate of tensions […] it has its causes. The negative impact of the previous US military exercise and strategic weapons release on the peninsula [coreana] It’s obvious to everyone,” Wang said.
South Korea and the United States held their biggest joint military exercises in five years in March.
The drills have angered North Korea, which sees them as a dress rehearsal for an invasion of its territory.
Since then, Pyongyang has increased missile launches.
Wednesday’s launch was a “new type” ballistic missile, possibly solid fuel, according to the South Korean military.
If confirmed, it will be a technological and strategic breakthrough for Pyongyang’s weapons program.
All ICBMs launched by North Korea so far have been liquid fueled.
Solid fuel missiles are more stable and prepare for launch faster than liquid fuel missiles.
They are also more difficult to detect and therefore destroy.
China and the then Soviet Union supported the northern forces in the Korean War (1950-1953), while the United States and the United Nations (UN) sided with the southern forces.
The war caused at least 2.5 million deaths and the fighting ceased in July 1953, with a UN-brokered armistice with China and North Korea.
A demilitarized zone was created on the 38th parallel, which has remained the ‘de facto’ border between the two Koreas ever since.
Technically, North Korea and South Korea are still at war since they never signed a peace treaty.
Source: TSF
