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The vice president of the United States left South Korea this Thursday, September 29, after a brief visit in which she traveled to the tense border with North Korea and denounced the “brutal dictatorship” of that country. In an apparent show of defiance, Pyongyang fired two ballistic missiles after Harris left.
Kamala Harris denounces the “brutal” North Korean dictatorship and Pyongyang launches two missiles.
The US vice president, on her first visit to the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) separating the two Koreas, said the heavily armed border area offers a stark reminder of the “dramatically different paths” the two countries have taken.
“In the north, we see a brutal dictatorship, rampant violations of human rights and an illegal weapons program that threatens peace and stability,” said the representative of the Government of Joe Biden.
Harris traveled to the tense border area after arriving in Seoul, the South Korean capital, at dawn on Thursday, September 29, and meeting with President Yoon Suk-yeol.
US Vice President Kamala Harris and South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol condemned North Korea’s intensifying nuclear rhetoric and weapons tests, a day after the isolated country conducted the latest in a series of missile tests https://t.co/3ihYFXKfX1
— Reuters (@Reuters) September 29, 2022
His official trip came amid growing tension in the region over Pyongyang’s missile launches and China’s actions in the Taiwan Strait.
“The United States and the world seek a stable and peaceful Korean peninsula where the DPRK is no longer a threat,” he said, referring to North Korea by the initials of its official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
North Korea launches two ballistic missiles after the departure of Kamala Harris
In an apparent defiance, Pyongyang fired two ballistic missiles off its east coast, after the US vice president departed after strongly condemning the nuclear rhetoric of the Kim Jong-Un administration.
This launch also follows that of two other projectiles launched from the North Korean capital region on Wednesday, September 28, on the eve of Harris’s arrival.
“The South Korean Army detected two short-range ballistic missiles fired from Sunchon, South Pyongan province, towards the east coast between 8:48 p.m. and 8:57 p.m (…) In the midst of a greater surveillance, our military maintains full readiness while working closely with the United States,” the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement.
Harris’ visit also came at a time when there are fears the North Korean government is on the verge of ordering a nuclear test. South Korean officials say their neighboring country has completed preparations for what would be its seventh atomic test and first since 2017.
South Korean lawmakers briefed by the country’s spy agency said Pyongyang will likely carry out the launch between October 16 and November 7, after its last major ally, China, holds a key Communist Party congress and before for the United States to vote in the midterm elections on November 8.
With Reuters and AP
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