North Korea launched an unidentified ballistic missile into the Sea of Japan today (called the East Sea in the two Koreas), as reported by the South Korean army, in a new response to the great maneuvers that Seoul and Washington are taking place these days and which also arrives hours before the visit of the South Korean president to Tokyo.
The South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) did not provide further details of the test for the moment, although the Japanese Ministry of Defense indicated that the projectile remained in the air at 7:40 a.m. local time (22:00 GMT) and that it expected it to fall around 8.18 (23.18 GMT) in the waters of the Sea of Japan about 550 kilometers east of the Korean peninsula, outside the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of Japan. These flight data suggest that it could be an intercontinental range ballistic missile (ICBM).
The new North launch, which comes after Pyongyang launched two medium-range ballistics (MRBMs) on Tuesday, takes place on the same day as President South KoreanYoon Suk-yeol, is planning to travel to Japan to meet with the Japanese Prime Minister, Fumio Kishida, on a visit aimed at strengthening bilateral relations. The test took place a few hours before Yoon’s departure from South Korea for Japan, where she will hold a summit with Kishida today in what marks the first such visit to Japan by a South Korean president in 12 years.
The rehearsal is a new response to the allied Freedom Shield maneuvers, which will last until March 23. The allies have warned that North Korea, which considers the exercises as a test to invade it and has promised to give an “unprecedented response” to these maneuvers, has everything ready to carry out a new nuclear test whenever it wants and some experts believe that the regime could choose to test its first solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), more efficient than those using liquid propellants.