NORTH KOREA FIRES MISSILES IN PROTEST: For the second time in a week, and the sixth time in less than two weeks, North Korea has fired ballistic missiles into the sea in what Pyongyang called a “just counteraction” in protest of the resumption of joint U.S.-South Korean major military exercises that were halted during the Trump administration.
“While we have assessed that this event does not pose an immediate threat to U.S. personnel or territory, or to our allies, the missile launch highlights the destabilizing impact of the DPRK’s unlawful WMD and ballistic missile programs,” said a statement issued by the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command.
The latest test of two short-range ballistic missiles comes just two days after the provocative launch of a nuclear-capable Hwasong-12 intermediate-range missile over the northern tip of Japan, triggering alert sirens and prompting a brief scare that the island might be under attack.
After the Tuesday launch, the United States moved the USS Ronald Reagan aircraft carrier strike group to waters off the coast of South Korea for exercises with South Korean and Japanese ships, which apparently prompted today’s response along with a rebuke from the North Korean Foreign Affairs Ministry accusing the U.S. of “escalating the military tensions on the Korean Peninsula.”
“The DPRK is watching the U.S. posing a serious threat to the stability of the situation on the Korean Peninsula and in its vicinity by redeploying the carrier task force,” the Foreign Affairs Ministry said, according to the state-run Korean Central News Agency.
US CONDUCTS EXERCISES WITH JAPAN AND SOUTH KOREA AFTER NORTH KOREAN MISSILE TEST
MEANWHILE AT THE UN: At a fractious United Nations General Assembly session yesterday, China and Russia blocked any consensus for responding to North Korea’s continued violation of U.N. resolutions banning ballistic missile tests, siding with Pyongyang in blaming the U.S. for provoking the North with military drills.
That drew a sharp rebuke from U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Linda Thomas-Greenfield, who called charges that North Korea’s flurry of missile tests “are somehow a consequence of hostile U.S. policies and actions” a “myth.”
“We won’t tolerate any country blaming our defensive actions to respond to the DPRK threats as somehow the inherent cause of these threats,” Thomas-Greenfield said. “Despite a lack of engagement from the DPRK, the United States remains committed to dialogue and diplomacy. The United States, however, will not stand by as the DPRK directly threatens the United States, our allies, and the entire world. None of us should.”
“As we all know, the DPRK has enjoyed blanket protection from two members of this council. These two members have gone out of their way to justify the DPRK’s repeated provocations and block every attempt to update the sanctions regime,” she said. “In short, two permanent members of the Security Council have enabled Kim Jong Un.”
BRACING FOR ANOTHER NUKE TEST: For months, the U.S. has been warning that North Korea appears on the verge of another nuclear test, its first since 2017, which would raise the stakes as diplomacy aimed at denuclearization remains stalled.
“We’ve called on the DPRK to refrain from further provocations and engage in a sustained and substantive dialogue,” said Secretary of State Antony Blinken during a press availability in Chile yesterday. “Unfortunately, the DPRK’s response has been to launch more missiles.”
“We believe that North Korea would be much better served by not only refraining from these actions but actually engaging in dialogue,” Blinken said. “I think what we’re seeing is that if they continue down this road, it will only increase the condemnation, increase the isolation, increase the steps that are taken in response to their actions.”
OPINION: BIDEN MUST NOT LET CHINA USE NORTH KOREA AS LEVERAGE
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SURRENDERS IN THE SOUTH: Ukraine’s push to liberate the key southern city of Kherson continues to make progress, but it has yet to break through the main Russian line of defense, according to the British Defense Ministry.
“Advancing south, Ukrainian units have pushed the front line forwards by up to an additional 20km, primarily making gains along the east bank of the Inhulets and west bank of the Dnipro, but not yet threatening the main Russian defensive positions,” the ministry said in its daily Twitter update.
Videos on social media show some Russian troops, with white flags of surrender on their tank barrels, giving up to Ukrainian troops in the Kherson region. But most Russian troops are falling back and being put in an increasingly tenuous position as Russian President Vladimir Putin has reportedly ordered his war-weary soldiers to stand and fight rather than retreat to more defensible positions.
“Russia faces a dilemma: withdrawal of combat forces across the Dnipro makes defense of the rest of Kherson Oblast more tenable, but the political imperative will be to remain and defend,” the United Kingdom’s assessment said. “The damaged river crossing over the Dnipro in this area remains one of the few routes available for them to resupply forces.”
“Pressed against the wide river and suffering severe supply shortages, Russian troops face a looming defeat that could set the stage for a potential Ukrainian push to reclaim control of the Crimean Peninsula, which Moscow annexed in 2014,” the Associated Press reported in its latest dispatch.
ADVANCES IN THE NORTH: With Russia diverting some of its forces to the defense of its southern occupied territory, Ukrainian troops have been able to continue advancing in the north, with several villages liberated in the past 24 hours, according to the Washington-based Institute for the Study of War.
“Ukrainian forces have begun liberating unspecified villages in Luhansk Oblast,” said the latest ISW assessment. “Russian forces have failed to hold the banks of the Oskil and Siverskyi Donets rivers and leverage them as natural boundaries to prevent Ukrainian forces from projecting into vulnerable sections of Russian-occupied northeast Ukraine.”
“Ukraine’s ongoing northern and southern counteroffensives are likely forcing the Kremlin to prioritize the defense of one area of operations at the expense of another, potentially increasing the likelihood of Ukrainian success in both,” the ISW concluded.
OPEC PRODUCTION CUT BENEFITS PUTIN: World oil prices immediately spiked yesterday after energy ministers from Saudi Arabia and other members of OPEC agreed to cut production in a move that was led by Russia.
“Today’s decision by OPEC will ultimately mean greater profits for Putin’s war machine. To stop this cash flow, we must work quickly to enact the price cap put forward by the Biden Administration and our G7 partners, and we must ensure that entities around the world who violate the price cap will face clear consequences,” said Sens. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) and Pat Toomey (R-PA) in a bipartisan statement.
The two senators are pushing for new secondary sanctions legislation to squeeze Russia’s energy-based economy. “Our proposal would provide the tools to ensure the price cap is effective and enforceable — and we’ll continue pushing our colleagues to pass this necessary provision to better hold Russia accountable for its war against Ukraine.”
WHITE HOUSE EXPRESSES ‘DISAPPOINTMENT’ WITH OPEC+ SLASHING OIL PRODUCTION
The Rundown
Washington Examiner: US conducts exercises with Japan and South Korea after North Korean missile test
Washington Examiner: NATO warns Russia: Putin would ‘regret’ any use of nuclear weapons
Washington Examiner: US believes Ukraine behind Darya Dugina assassination in Moscow
Washington Examiner: Russian parliament defense committee chief to military: ‘Stop lying’ about Ukraine losses
Washington Examiner: Biden administration must investigate threat of Chinese ownership of US farmland, GOP says
Washington Examiner: VEEP IMPACT: SUV carrying Harris crashes, Secret Service initially blames ‘mechanical failure’
Washington Examiner: Finnish city removes last statue of Soviet leader Lenin
Washington Examiner: White House expresses ‘disappointment’ with OPEC+ slashing oil production
AP: Russian rockets slam into Ukrainian city near nuclear plant
AP: EU agrees on price cap for Russian oil over Ukraine war
New York Times: In Retreat At The Front, Russia Launches Strikes Deep Into Ukraine
New York Times: U.S. Bolstering Taiwan Muscle Against China
Reuters: Taiwan Says It Will Not Rely On Others For Defense
Space News: UK, South Korea Join ASAT Test Ban, Raising Like-Minded Countries to Seven
USNI News: Russian Doomsday Sub Belgorod Spotted In The Arctic
Washington Post: Full Tally Of Russia’s Nuclear Arsenal Difficult To Come By
Breaking Defense: Air Force to Start New Experiments With Boeing’s MQ-28 Ghost Bat Drone
Navy Times: Navy Behind Schedule, Overbudget On Robot Subs
Air & Space Forces Magazine: Air Force Plans New Blended Wing Body Cargo/Tanker Aircraft by 2027
Military.com: Afghan Pilot Who Bombed the Taliban Now Flying Recon to Combat US Wildfires
Defense News: US Says Hackers Attacked Defense Organization, Stole Sensitive Info
Air & Space Forces Magazine: Air Force Sets Goals to Slash Emissions Across the Board With New Climate Action Plan
Military.com: Judge Orders Navy To Review The Medical Discharges Of At Least 3,700 Sailors And Marines
Military Times: The Pentagon Set 18 Diversity Goals In 2011. It’s Fulfilled 6 Of Them.
Air & Space Forces Magazine: USAF, South Korea Drop JDAMs in Allied Response to North Korean Missile Tests
19fortyfive.com: The Russian Military Seems to Be in Full Retreat in Ukraine
19fortyfive.com: Is Russia Running Out of Ammo To Fight Ukraine?
19fortyfive.com: The B-21 Raider: Why This Stealth Bomber Is So Important to the U.S. Air Force
19fortyfive.com: J-11B: China’s Best Fighter Jet That Isn’t Stealth?
19fortyfive.com: Opinion: North Korea’s Hwasong-12 Missile Test Over Japan Must Be Punished
Calendar
THURSDAY | OCTOBER 6
9 a.m. 1616 Rhode Island Ave, N.W. — Center for Strategic and International Studies discussion: on “The Implementation Plan for the Army Climate Strategy,” with Principal Deputy Assistant Army Secretary for Installations, Energy, and Environment Paul Farnan and former Assistant Defense Secretary for Operational Energy Plans and Programs Sharon Burke https://www.csis.org/events/launch-army-climate-implementation-plan
11 a.m. 2121 K St. N.W. — International Institute for Strategic Studies discussion: on “Ukraine: Back to the Future (of Warfare)?” with former Defense Undersecretary for Policy Michele Flournoy, co-founder and managing partner of WestExec Advisors; Ukrainian Maj. Gen. Borys Kremenetskyi, defense attache at the Embassy of Ukraine; Lawrence Rubin, associate fellow at IISS; and Franz-Stefan Gady, senior fellow at IISS https://www.iiss.org/events/2022/10/ukraine-back-to-the-future-of-warfare
1 p.m. — Atlantic Council virtual Forward Defense Forum: “How Can We Deter China in the 2020s?” with former Defense Undersecretary for Policy Michele Flournoy, co-founder and managing partner at WestExec Advisors; and Tim Cahill, senior vice president for global business development and strategy at Lockheed Martin https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/event/how-can-we-deter-china-in-the-2020s/
FRIDAY | OCTOBER 7
2 p.m. 1616 Rhode Island Ave. N.W. — Center for Strategic and International Studies discussion: “The current state of affairs in Afghanistan,” with Fawzia Koofi, Afghan parliamentary lawmaker https://www.csis.org/events/armchair-discussion:-fawzia-koofi
TUESDAY | OCTOBER 11
TBA — NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg news conference ahead of NATO Defense Ministerial https://www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/news
WEDNESDAY | OCTOBER 12
TBA NATO Headquarters, Brussels — NATO defense ministers, including U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, meet over two days at NATO Headquarters in Brussels. A separate meeting of the Ukraine Contact Group, hosted by the U.S., will also take place. NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg is scheduled to conduct a news conference at the end of each day https://www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/news
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“As we all know, the DPRK has enjoyed blanket protection from two members of this council. These two members have gone out of their way to justify the DPRK’s repeated provocations and block every attempt to update the sanctions regime.”
Linda Thomas-Greenfield, U.S. ambassador to the U.N., rebuking Russia and China for blocking sanctions enforcement against North Korea for its latest missile launches
