Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, North Korea launched missiles on nine separate occasions in March. During a time of international solidarity to combat the virus, North Korea’s actions stand in stark contrast. Moreover, their recent actions go against their resolution with the United Nations (UN) Security Council to denuclearize. The peaceful relationship between North and South Korea thus seems difficult to maintain. Because international peace has been threatened, foreign countries, including the United States (U.S.), have condemned North Korea’s military action.

Since the beginning of March, North Korea has launched several missiles. The tension on the Korean Peninsula seemed to ease in 2018 and 2019, when inter-Korean and North Korea-United States summits were held. North Korea promised to make efforts to denuclearize at this time; however, it seems that they have broken that promise. On March 2 and 9, North Korea launched a KN-25, which is a supersized Short-Ranged Ballistic Missile (SRBM).

Their provocations did not stop. On March 21, North Korea also launched KN-23 twice, from Seonchon to the East Sea. This time, North Korean leader Kim Jung Un observed the demonstration. Kim said, “Our new weapons invented recently will allow our party to innovate the state’s defense strategies.” North Korea launched other missiles on March 29 and April 14.

Conjecture about North Korea’s Intentions

Professor Kim Ki Ho (Graduate School of Political Science, Kyonggi University) insisted that the purpose of North Korea’s recent actions is to test whether they can launch a preemptive attack on South Korea. The most notable feature of the latest missile launch was its low altitude. According to Professor Kim, North Korea has attempted to lower their missile’s trajectory to evade radar detection. Furthermore, it seems that North Korea is trying to neutralize Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) or Patriot Advanced Capacity-3 (PAC-3) ‒ anti-ballistic missile defense systems established by the United States Forces Korea (USFK).

According to Professor Nam Sung-wook (North and South Economic Research Institute), the intentions behind the provocations are “to test their new weapons and draw the world’s attention.” Professor Nam also pointed out that lowering the missile’s maneuvering altitude enables higher accuracy. North Korea is upgrading its weapons so that it is more difficult for South Korea to counterattack. However, Professor Nam said, “The attack was made at a low-level ‒ provocative enough to attract the U.S.’s attention, but not too provocative to raise tensions.”

The missile launch has critical political implications. Although the range of the missiles were targeting South Korea, North Korea intended to send a message on a global scale. Professor Nam raised another possible intention behind the launch: “North Korea created a fictional enemy to encourage their people to conform to authority. Showing a new weapon’s capacity is a very effective tool to soothe the public fear of COVID-19 within North Korea and to turn the attention to the outside world.”

Upgrading its Weapons

The missiles fired on March 2, 9, and 29 were Multi-Rocket Launching System (MLRS) missiles, which North Korea has continuously tested and refined since 2018. The most significant advantage of these weapons is their capability to be fired continuously. Professor Kim said North Korea is looking to reduce the interval between launches. According to Seoul’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, the launch interval for the SRBM launched on March 2 was only 20 seconds.

The missile launched on March 21 was a KN-23, part of the North Korean Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS). This new weapon maneuvers irregularly, making South Korea even more challenging to launch a counterattack. However, the U.S. website *38 North* noted that KN-23’s diameter (700–850 mm) is likely to be large enough – although it cannot be measured precisely – to accommodate a 600-mm nuclear explosive device.

UN Security Council Condemnation

During the UN Security Council meeting on March 31, European countries—Belgium, Estonia, France, Germany, Poland, and the United Kingdom (UK)—labeled North Korea’s actions as *provocative*, and stated they were “deeply concerned by the repeated testing of missiles.” With China and Russia requesting the lifting of sanctions, the UN Security Council could not adopt a unified statement sanctioning North Korea in March. However, international society is keeping an eye on this issue. On April 17, a report from the UN Security Council Sanctions Committee on North Korea showed that North Korea went against the resolutions.

The U.S. did not take direct actions to sanction North Korea during March and early April; however, according to Professor Nam, they are “watching” the situation. According to *Yonhap News*, “the U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo asked the G7 nations to ‘stay committed to applying diplomatic and economic pressure’ over the North’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs while calling on them to return to talks.” After his remark, North Korea expressed great displeasure, claiming his statements were “ludicrous,” and said they had lost interest in resuming their talks with the U.S.

Possible Dissolution of a Peaceful Relationship

Seoul’s Joint Chiefs of Staff stated on March 29, “North Korea’s military action during the world’s struggle with COVID-19 was very unreasonable.” The South Korean administration is currently responding to North Korea very cautiously but is paying strong attention to their actions. The Blue House is aware of what has happened but has not called a meeting of the National Security Council (NSC) until April 16.

Professor Kim insisted that the recent attack was a “huge threat” to South Korea. He pointed out that 17 separate North Korean provocations have occurred since 2017 and they have violated UN Security Council resolutions. He also believed that the current administration is not delivered an appropriately firm response. Professor Kim argued, “Although South and North Korea should cooperate in some cases, the government should also pressure North Korea to halt their missile launches.”

“If North Korea’s provocation continues, peacebuilding between North and South Korea will become a challenging task,” said Professor Nam. Indeed, North Korea seems to have resumed weapons testing and are criticizing other countries that protest their actions. South Korea should make a breakthrough to rebuild peace on the Korean Peninsula and resolve this endless issue.