South Korea’s military on Friday denounced North Korea’s launch of a ballistic missile into the Sea of Japan, less than a week after it fired two medium-range projectiles, amid a spike in tensions on the peninsula.
The South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff said the ballistic missile has not been identified at this stage and gave no further details, South Korea’s Yonhap news agency reported. During the day on Sunday, Pyongyang launched two medium-range ballistic missiles into the Sea of Japan, also known as the East Sea.
After Sunday’s launch, North Korean authorities said it was a test in the framework of the development of a military reconnaissance satellite that it seeks to put into orbit in April next year. It explained that the objective was to «evaluate the capacity of photography, satellite data, transmission systems and the ground control system».
The launch by North Korea increases tensions in the region after North Korea has in recent weeks launched dozens of ballistic missiles in tests banned by UN Security Council resolutions, in response to military maneuvers between Washington and Seoul, which Pyongyang considers an invasion test.
U.S. and South Korean officials agreed Wednesday to conduct «realistic» joint military maneuvers, especially in the face of scenarios of a missile or nuclear weapons attack by North Korea. The South Korean Defense Ministry stressed that the parties also plan to expand their joint exercises next year following a meeting between senior defense officials from both countries.
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
