South Korea’s military said North Korea fired an “unspecified ballistic missile”. (Representative)
Seoul:
North Korea has fired an “unspecified ballistic missile”, the South’s military said on Friday, the latest in a blitz launched by Pyongyang, as Seoul warned that Kim Jong Un could be close to conducting another nuclear test. .
“North Korea fired an unspecified ballistic missile toward the East Sea,” also known as the Sea of Japan, said Seoul’s Joint Chiefs of Staff.
The JCS statement did not provide further details.
Tensions on the peninsula are at their highest point in years, with long-stalled talks, with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un declaring his country an “irreversible” nuclear power last month, effectively ending talks on its banned weapons programs. Did it
South Korean President Yoon Suk-yol said on Tuesday that North Korea is ready to conduct another nuclear test, which will be its seventh test.
“It looks like they have already completed preparations for the seventh nuclear test,” he told parliament on Tuesday during a budget speech.
On Wednesday, the United States, Japan and South Korea said the North Korean nuclear test would guarantee an “unprecedentedly strong response” while pledging unity among regional security allies.
This month, North Korea has fired several artillery barrages into a maritime “buffer zone” that was established in 2018 as a way to defuse tensions with the South during a period of unfortunate diplomacy.
It also announced that it had staged a “strategic nuclear exercise”, which mimicked the bombardment of the South with nuclear-tipped missiles.
‘provocation’
The moves are part of a dramatic escalation this year, which Seoul calls a “provocation” by the north, including launching its longest missile from a distance, overthrowing Japan and prompting rare evacuation warnings.
Seoul has also recently conducted live-fire exercises, and the US has redeployed nuclear-powered aircraft carriers to the region to conduct large-scale trilateral exercises that also include Tokyo.
Such exercises infuriate Pyongyang, which sees them as rehearsals for an invasion and justifies its onslaught of missile launches as necessary “countermeasures”.
Seoul and Washington have repeatedly warned that Pyongyang may be close to testing a nuclear warhead for the first time since its first ballistic missile launch since 2017.
Kim Jong Un has prioritized tactical nuclear—small, war-ready weapons—and Seoul recently warned that the North could prepare for a series of nuclear tests as part of the campaign.
Analysts say Pyongyang’s belief that a standoff at the United Nations will protect it from further sanctions has encouraged it to continue testing its weapons.
At a recent UN Security Council meeting to discuss Pyongyang’s launch on Japan, North Korea’s longtime ally and economic benefactor China accused Washington of provoking Washington for missile tests.
For months the Security Council has been divided over how to respond to Pyongyang’s nuclear ambitions, with Russia and China on sympathetic sides and the rest of the council pushing for punishment.
(Except for the title, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)