North Korea fired a medium-range missile into the sea on Sunday, South Korea and Japan said. The launch comes as tensions between the three countries rise following the recent test of an intercontinental ballistic missile and Pyongyang’s first military spy satellite launch.
North Korea has stepped up pressure on Seoul in recent weeks, declaring it its “main enemy.” Pyongyang insists North Korea will never reunite with South Korea and vows to increase its ability to launch nuclear attacks against the United States (US) and Washington’s allies in the Pacific.
The missile launched on Sunday originated from Pyongyang territory at around 14:55 local time, flying about 1,000 km off the country’s east coast, South Korea’s military said in a statement. The statement also added that Seoul was conducting an analysis of the missile, in collaboration with the US and Japan.
A TV screen is seen reporting news about North Korean leader Kim Jong Un at Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, April 13, 2023. (Photo: AP)
The maximum altitude of the missile was at least 50 km, and the missile apparently fell outside Japan’s exclusive economic zone, Japan’s Defense Ministry said. Tokyo called the missile launch a violation of UN resolutions.
In November, North Korea said it successfully tested a solid-fuel engine designed for a medium-range ballistic missile.
In December, the country said it had tested its latest intercontinental ballistic missile to gauge the warfighting power of its nuclear forces against what it described as US unfriendliness, as Washington and its allies began operating a real-time missile data sharing system.
North Korean troops brought heavy weapons back to the Demilitarized Zone around the North-South border and restored guard posts that had been destroyed by both countries. This came after Seoul suspended part of a 2018 military agreement between the two Koreas in protest over Pyongyang’s launch of a spy satellite.
North Korea and South Korea remain in a technical state of war because the 1950-1953 Korean War ended in an armistice, not in the form of a peace treaty.
Meanwhile, Pyongyang is actually increasingly strengthening relations with Moscow. Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui will visit Russia from Monday to Wednesday at the invitation of his counterpart Sergei Lavrov, North Korean news agency KCNA said on Sunday. (Ah)