North Korea tests ballistic missile in Sea of Japan

According to South Korea’s military, North Korea launched a short-range ballistic missile on Sunday towards the Sea of Japan. Pyongyang said that the US was waging “reckless military provocations,” such as sending submarines, as a “preview of a nuclear war.”

The missile was launched from or around Pyongyang at roughly 10:38 p.m. local time, according to the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and it travelled about 570 km before landing in the East Sea, also known as the Sea of Japan in the Koreas.

The launch was denounced by South Korea as a “clear” breach of resolutions passed by the UN Security Council that forbid North Korea from developing ballistic missile capability.

“While elevating our alert readiness, our military is maintaining a full readiness posture by closely sharing data on the ‘North Korean ballistic missile’ with the US and Japan,” the South Korean military said, according to the Yonhap news agency.

According to reports, in an effort to improve trilateral security cooperation, the three allies have decided to implement a system for the real-time exchange of North Korean ballistic missile warning data by the end of the year.

Following the missile launch, North Korea’s defence ministry accused the US and South Korea of inflaming tensions on the peninsula by joint military manoeuvres and “reckless military provocations,” and threatened a preemptive and lethal response to any attempt to use nuclear weapons.

According to the ministry, plans to create a “extended deterrence system” by the middle of next year were disclosed by the United States and South Korea during the second “Nuclear Consultative Group” meeting on December 15.

According to the ministry, “during the large-scale joint military exercises in August of next year, the US and South Korea will conduct a nuclear operation drill.” The remark was made public by the state-run Korea Central News Agency (KCNA).

Referred to be a “open declaration on nuclear confrontation,” North Korea promised to thwart any effort to start a nuclear conflict.

Two days after South Korean officials noticed clues suggesting a possible intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) launch, there was another launch, the 26th this year officially announced.

The most recent test of an ICBM by Pyongyang took place in July when it launched a Hwasong-18 projectile using solid fuel from the outskirts of the capital city.

However, provided information from the Japanese defence ministry indicates that the flight data does not seem consistent with an ICBM trajectory.

(With agency inputs)