North Korea has launched an unidentified ballistic missile into the Sea of Japan (called the East Sea in Korea) during the early hours of this Sunday morning (local time), as announced by the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS).
It is the seventh launch in two weeks carried out by the North Korean regime and comes after the conclusion of naval exercises in waters around the Korean peninsula in which a US nuclear-powered aircraft carrier has participated, whose presence in the area has been criticized. for Pyongyang.
In a statement released on Saturday, North Korea called its recent missile tests a "self-defense" measure against the United States.
"It is a regular and planned self-defense measure to defend the country's security and regional peace from direct US military threats that have lasted for more than half a century," said a spokesman for the National Aviation Administration (ANA) of North Korea in statements collected by the North Korean state news agency KCNA.
Pyongyang also criticized the position of the UN Security Council, which met this week to discuss the recent increase in tensions on the Korean peninsula, specifically after the firing of a medium-range ballistic missile on Tuesday that flew over Japanese territory and unleashed criticism from the international community.
The meeting, however, revealed the current fissure within the body, after Russia and China, permanent members of the Council with the right to veto, distanced themselves from the general condemnation of said test.
"The attempt by the United States and its vassal forces to prevent North Korea from exercising its right to self-defense is a flagrant violation of national rights that goes against the UN Charter," the statement said.
Pyongyang has launched seven missile launches in the last ten days, an intense activity that has significantly increased tension in the region, and comes after Seoul and Washington announced the return of the US nuclear-powered aircraft carrier to waters off the Korean peninsula. USS Ronald Reagan.
