Seoul: South Korea’s military says that North Korea fired a ballistic missile in the East Sea area on Sunday. It is the newest weapon in North Korea’s arsenal of weapons.
South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement that the missile was fired in the early hours of Sunday, although he did not provide further details, even the missile’s firepower. The Japanese government also said that North Korea had fired the missile, which was probably a ballistic missile.
At the same time, South Korea’s Yonhap news agency, citing the South Korean military, said that North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles toward the East Sea.
Courtesy AFP
In the past two weeks, North Korea has fired 10 ballistic missiles into the sea in five launch events, adding to its record-breaking pace of weapons tests this year. The recent weapons tests include a nuclear-capable missile that flew over Japan for the first time in five years and demonstrated a range to strike the U.S. Pacific territory of Guam and beyond.
Earlier this year, North Korea tested other nuclear-capable ballistic missiles that place the U.S. mainland and its allies South Korea and Japan within striking distance.
North Korea’s testing spree indicates its leader, Kim Jong Un, has no intention of resuming diplomacy with the U.S. and wants to focus on expanding his weapons arsenal. But some experts say Kim would eventually aim to use his advanced nuclear program to wrest greater outside concessions, such as the recognition of North Korea as a legitimate nuclear state, which Kim thinks is essential in getting crippling U.N. sanctions on his country lifted.
