North Korea on Sunday launched a short-range ballistic missile in the Sea of Japan – called the East Sea in the two Koreas – the South Korean military and Japanese authorities said.
Axar.az reports citing foreign media that South Korea’s military Joint Chief’s of Staff detected the fresh test by Pyongyang on Sunday morning, days after the North launched a new kind of inter-continental ballistic missile. The North Korean regime subsequently boasted that the latest ICBM had the longest reach among its missiles.
The Japanese defence ministry also detected Sunday’s launch and said that the missile fell outside its exclusive economic zone (EEZ) around 11.20 am.
The South Korean military is analyzing the missile’s flight distance, altitude and speed, local news agency Yonhap reported.
The latest missile tests are being seen as Pyongyang’s response to the ongoing joint military exercises in the south of the peninsula by South Korea and the United States, which have repeatedly been dubbed as a “rehearsal for invasion” by the North.
The North Korean regime had previously warned of an “unprecedented response” to the drills.