N. Korea fires fresh missiles in response to US sanctions

“It has queued up missiles that it wants to test anyway and is responding to U.S. pressure with additional provocations in an effort to extort concessions.” The timing of the launch and detection of multiple missiles suggest North Korea demonstrated weapons that were already operational, rather than some of its other missiles under development, as it sought to signal Washington, said Kim Dong-yub, a professor at Seoul’s University of North Korean Studies.He said the North may have tested a solid-fuel missile apparently modeled after Russia’s Iskander mobile ballistic system, or another short-range weapon that looks similar to the U.S. MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile System. Such weapons were on a wish-list of sophisticated military assets Kim Jong Un unveiled early last year along with multi-warhead missiles, spy satellites, solid-fuel long-range missiles and submarine-launched nuclear missiles.Still, experts say North Korea would need years and more successful and longer-range tests before acquiring a credible hypersonic system.In an interview with MSNBC, Secretary of State Antony Blinken called the North’s latest tests “profoundly destabilizing” and said the United States was deeply engaged at the U.N. and with key partners, including allies South Korea and Japan, on a response.