The South Korean military said North Korea had launched an unidentified projectile toward the Sea of Japan on Tuesday.
“North Korea fired an unidentified projectile toward the East Sea,” South Korea’s military said.
South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said the weapons were fired from the northern inland area and suspected they were short-range ballistic missiles. He said the information was shared with its allies the US and Japan.
South Korea’s acting President Choi Sang-mok said Seoul would respond vigorously to the provocation, saying the new launch was a violation of UN Security Council resolutions.
The launch came just a week after North Korea fired a new hypersonic missile system, its first this year. It is designed to attack remote targets in the Pacific Ocean.
This happened while US Secretary of State Antony Blinken was visiting South Korea, and was Donald Trump’s first visit since his re-election to office.
North Korea’s rivalry with America
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un wants to build up his nuclear weapons arsenal to counter his rivals South Korea and the United States.
Kim’s rapprochement with Russian President Vladimir Putin has raised concerns in the US about his nuclear capabilities.
In November, North Korea tested its most advanced solid fuel intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM).
Pyongyang is also believed to be helping Moscow in the Ukraine war.
Kim has criticized Biden’s military alliance with South Korea and Japan as a “nuclear military bloc prone to aggression.”
Kim has not commented on the return to office of Trump, whom he met three times during his previous term.
Experts say it is unlikely that both sides will resume diplomacy any time soon.
tg/jsi (AFP, Reuters, dpa, AP)
