North Korea today launched a short-range ballistic missile into the Sea of Japan (called the East Sea in both Koreas), according to the South Korean Army and the Japanese authorities.
The South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) detected this Sunday the new Pyongyang test, which occurs after the North on Thursday launched a new type of intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) that according to the regime is the one with the longest potential range of its arsenal.
Japan's Defense Ministry also detected the launch that occurred at about 11:05 a.m. Sunday (2:05 a.m. GMT), noting that the missile landed about 15 minutes later in waters outside its exclusive economic space (EEZ).
The South Korean Army specified in a statement that while the Japanese Ministry of Defense indicated that the projectile reached a maximum height of 50 kilometers and could be launched from the Tonchang-ri area and traveled about 800 kilometers before falling into the sea, having flown in an irregular trajectory.
The JCS "continues to carry out an in-depth analysis of the launch details" together with the United States, the statement said, adding that the allies will continue their "high-intensity" military exercises while maintaining their readiness to respond effectively. overwhelming" to provocations from the North.
Japan's Vice Defense Minister, Toshiro Ino, said for his part that the North's continued weapons tests "are totally unacceptable and pose a threat to the peace and security of Japan, the region and the international community."
The launch is considered a new reply by Pyongyang to these joint maneuvers carried out by Seoul and Wahshington in the south of the peninsula, seen by the North as "a test to invade its territory and to which it has promised to give "an unprecedented response". .
The intercontinental missile tested last Thursday crashed about 250 kilometers from the island of Oshima, which lies southwest of the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido, and was a Hwasong-17, according to the regime.
That North Korean rehearsal took place hours before South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol traveled to Tokyo to meet with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in what was the first such summit in 12 years, in which both The presidents promised to strengthen their bilateral cooperation in security matters and with the US against Pyongyang.
North Korea launched two more short-range ballistic missiles into the Sea of Japan on Tuesday, the day after Seoul and Washington began their exercises. In addition, Pyongyang announced last Monday that on Sunday he had fired two strategic missiles from a submarine.
