SOUTH KOREA-Kishida & Yoon Hold Call Following NK Missile Launches

Yonhap news reporting that Japanese PM Fumio Kishida and South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol held a 25-minute phone call today regarding the recent spate of missile launches by the North Korean military.

• North Korea has engaged in a record number of missile launches in 2022, with another two short-range ballistic missiles fired into the Sea of Japan (but outside Japan's EEZ) earlier today. As noted in our 2325BST bullet from 5 October, there are concerns that the sustained missile launches could be a prelude to a nuclear test.
• The North has not engaged in a nuclear test since 2017, and launching one at this point would raise tensions on the Korean peninsula to multi-year highs.
• Yoon and Kishida have both talked up improving relations between their two nations, but there remain legacy issues hanging over from WWII that continue to hinder a major improvement in bilateral ties.