SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA: Ramping up testing activities in response to the US-South Korean military drills, North Korea Sunday launched a short-range ballistic missile toward the sea.
The country sees the US-South Korean military drills as an invasion rehearsal. North Kore’s neighbours also confirmed the launch. The missile launched from the northwestern region flew across North Korea before it landed in the waters off country’s east coast, said South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff in a statement.
It further said that South Korea’s military has lifted its surveillance posture and maintains a readiness in close coordination with the US. Defence Ministry of Japan said that a suspected North Korean missile was launched on Sunday morning. It said the suspected weapon landed outside Japan’s exclusive economic zone as there were no immediate reports of damage in the area.
The launch was the North Korea’s third round of weapons tests since the United States and South Korean militaries began their joint military exercises at the start of last week. The fresh US-South Korean drills, which include field exercises and computer simulations are likely to continue until Thursday. It is to mention here that the field drills are the biggest of their kind since 2018.
“Drills a practice to launch invasion”
The North views such US-South Korean military exercises as a practice to launch an invasion, though both the countries have categorically said their training is defensive in nature. The weapons North Korea recently tested included the longest-range Hwasong-17 intercontinental ballistic missile designed to strike the United States mainland. The state media of North Jorea quoted leader Kim Jong Un as saying that the missile launch was meant to “strike fear into the enemies.”
