South Korea’s military said that North Korea has fired an “unidentified projectile”. This comes as Pyongyang’s eighth launch this year. “North Korea fired an unidentified projectile eastward,” the Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement.
No further details were given out.
Japan also confirmed this launch. A defence ministry spokesman, while speaking to AFP said, “potential ballistic missile(s)” were fired from North Korea. The Japanese coastguard also issued a warning to vessels about a “potentially ballistic missile possibly launched from North Korea”.
Japanese foreign minister Masayoshi was on live TV, talking about Ukraine when news of North Korea’s launch came out.
“This situation in Ukraine is not something that stays just in Ukraine or in Europe. But it could potentially affect the entire world, or Indo-Pacific region or in East Asia in our view,” he said.
Pyongyang had carried out a series of weapons tests last month. This also included one of its most powerful missiles since 2017.
Also read | North Korea tests another suspected ballistic missile
However, due to the Beijing Olympics, there was an unexpected calm on the peninsula, which did not stay for that long.
Earlier in January, Kim Jong-Un’s regime said that it had tested a hypersonic missile. South Korea’s military said North Korea tested a suspected ballistic missile that fell into the sea.
South Korea’s military said the new test was conducted in the morning on Tuesday as the “projectile” landed outside Japan’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) as Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida called it “regrettable”.
UN members including Japan and Albania had earlier condemned the previous missile test even as US ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield called it a “miscalculation and escalation” on part of North Korea.
(With inputs from agencies)
