The launch took place hours following the United States and the South Korea have completed a new series of naval exercises off the east coast of the Korean Peninsula.
The missile appears to have fallen at sea outside Japan’s exclusive economic zone, the Japanese government said.
(Kyodo News via AP / FILE)
The North Korea fired a ballistic missile at sea, the South Korean military said, the latest in a series of firings amid tensions over US-led military exercises in the region, the agency reported. South Korean press Yonhap.
South Korea’s joint army chiefs of staff announced the launch – the seventh in two weeks – without giving further details, Yonhap said on Sunday.
The Japanese Prime Minister’s Office also confirmed the launch on Twitter.
“North Korea has launched a suspected ballistic missile. More updates to follow,” the office said.
[Emergency alert]
North Korea has launched a suspected ballistic missile. More updates to follow.— Office of the Prime Minister of Japan (@JPN_PMO) October 8, 2022
The missile appears to have fallen into the sea outside Japan’s exclusive economic zone, the Japanese government said, with the coast guard saying it has not received any reports of damage to Japanese vessels so far, reported national broadcaster NHK.
The launch comes following joint military exercises between the United States and South Korea, which ended on Saturday according to Yonhap, and joint exercises between the United States, the South and Japan earlier in the week.
READ MORE : Why is the United States sending the world’s largest warship to the North Atlantic?
Responding to the American Threat
Sunday’s launch is the latest in a string of firings, including an intermediate-range ballistic missile launch over Japan on Tuesday, which prompted an alert for residents of affected areas to be on the lookout. shelter.
North Korea on Saturday defended its recent round of missile tests as a legitimate response to US military threats.
Army warns that US redeployment of carrier near Korean peninsula is causing ‘considerable negative shock’ to regional security, while defending recent missile tests as ‘just reaction’ to drills intimidating military between his rivals.
The statement from the North Korean Defense Ministry came a day following the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan began naval exercises with South Korean warships.
The UN has banned North Korea from testing ballistic and nuclear weapons, but the country’s recent missile strike has wreaked havoc in Japan, prompting an alert for some citizens in the country’s north to take cover.
A look at the history of North Korea’s missile launches pic.twitter.com/9ZR5unkYJt
– TRT World (@fr.palestinaliberation.com) October 5, 2022
The Reagan and her battle group returned to the area following North Korea fired a powerful missile over Japan earlier this week to protest the carrier group’s previous training with South Korea .
North Korea views U.S.-South Korean military exercises as a rehearsal for an invasion and is particularly sensitive if those exercises involve U.S. strategic assets like an aircraft carrier.
North Korea has argued that it was forced to pursue a nuclear weapons program to deal with US nuclear threats. US and South Korean officials have repeatedly said they have no intention of attacking the North.
In the past two weeks, North Korea has fired 10 ballistic missiles at sea in five launches, adding to its record pace of weapons testing this year.
Recent weapons tests include a nuclear-capable missile that flew over Japan for the first time in five years and demonstrated it might strike the US territory of Guam in the Pacific and beyond.
READ MORE : South Korea and the United States launch exercises with an aircraft carrier following the North’s missiles
Source: fr.palestinaliberation.com and agencies
