(CNN) — North Korea launched a suspected ballistic missile, the Japanese government said on Sunday.
The Japan Coast Guard reported that North Korea’s possible ballistic missile appears to have gone down.
The Coast Guard instructed the boats to be attentive to the information and not to approach any object that has fallen into the sea. It also asked ships to report any relevant information.
On Tuesday, North Korea fired another missile, without warning, that flew over and past Japan, prompting Japan to warn its citizens to take shelter.
Tuesday’s missile traveled over northern Japan early in the morning and is believed to have landed in the Pacific Ocean. The last time North Korea fired a ballistic missile at Japan was in 2017.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned that if North Korea continues “down this path” of provocation following its launch of a ballistic missile over japan this Tuesday, “it will only increase the sentence, increase the isolation and increase the steps that are taken in response to their actions.”
The United States imposed new sanctions on Friday, following North Korea’s recent ballistic missile tests, the US Treasury and State Department said.
North Korea routinely fires its missiles into the waters off the Korean Peninsula, making Tuesday’s flight over Japan considerably more provocative.
Not including Sunday’s suspected launch, North Korea has fired six missiles in the past two weeks, marking an increase even in a year with the highest number of launches since leader Kim Jong Un took power in 2011.
The aggressive ramp-up in weapons tests has raised alarm in the region, with the United States, South Korea and Japan responding with missile launches and joint military exercises. The United States has also redeployed an aircraft carrier to waters near the peninsula, a move South Korean officials called “highly unusual.”
This is breaking news and will be updated.
