North Korea fired an unidentified ballistic missile on Sunday, Japan’s Coast Guard and the South Korean navy stated, as Pyongyang condemned US-led navy reveals of pressure as tantamount to “a preview of a nuclear war.”
The missile was launched in direction of the ocean off North Korea’s east coast, based on the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff.
About 20 minutes after initially reporting the launch, the Japanese coast guard stated the missile had already fallen.
It appeared to have fallen outdoors Japan’s unique financial zone (EEZ), broadcaster NTV reported.
No additional particulars had been instantly out there.
The launch got here after warnings from officers in Seoul and Tokyo that nuclear-armed North Korea was making ready to test-fire a missile, together with one in all its longest-range intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) this month.
All of North Korea’s ballistic missile actions are banned by United Nations Security Council resolutions, although Pyongyang defends them as its sovereign proper to self protection.
Criticizing the US and Japan
Less than half an hour after the launch, North Korean state media carried an announcement from the protection ministry criticizing “military gangsters” within the United States and South Korea for elevating tensions with drills, shows of pressure, and nuclear struggle planning.
The assertion by an unnamed ministry spokesman cited the arrival of the US nuclear-powered submarine USS Missouri within the South Korean port metropolis of Busan on Sunday.
“The armed forces of the DPRK will thoroughly neutralize the US and its vassal forces’ attempt to ignite a nuclear war and thus reliably ensure peace and security in the Korean peninsula,” the assertion stated, utilizing the initials of North Korea’s official identify, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
The spokesman additionally criticized South Korea and the US for holding their second Nuclear Consultative Group assembly in Washington on Friday, as a part of efforts by the allies to streamline struggle planning and improve navy reveals of pressure as a warning to North Korea.
