SEOUL: North Korea fired an apparent intermediate-range missile off its east coast on Sunday, South Korea claimed, as tensions run high following Pyongyang’s recent launches of an intercontinental ballistic missile and its first spy satellite.
South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement that North Korea has fired an unidentified ballistic missile towards East Sea.
On the other hand, Japan’s coast guard stated that an “object, possibly ballistic missile, launched from Pyongyang,” quoting information from the country’s ministry of defense, and warning ships to take care.
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Pyongyang’s last missile test was of a Hwasong-18 solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missile, which it had fired into the East Sea on Dec. 18.
The apparent test came days following North Korea conducted a series of rare live-fire exercises near the maritime border with the South, prompting counter-drills and evacuation orders for several South Korean border islands.
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Earlier, Kim Jong Un branded South Korea his “principal enemy” and warned they would not hesitate to annihilate the South Korea, as he visited major weapons factories.
Ties between the two Koreas are at one of their lowest levels in decades, following Kim enshrined the nation’s permanent status as a nuclear power into the constitution and also test-fired several advanced ballistic missiles.
North Korea’s isolated government is also forging closer relations with Russia. Minister for Foreign Affairs Choe Son Hui will visit Moscow from Monday to Wednesday at the invitation of Sergei Lavrov, local media reported on Sunday.
Last year, South Korea also successfully put a reconnaissance satellite into orbit, following receiving what Seoul claimed was Moscow assistance, in exchange for weapons shipments for war in Ukraine.
The UNSC has approved many resolutions calling on N Korea to halt its nuclear and ballistic missile programmes since North Korea first conducted a nuclear test in 2006.
