Seoul: North Korea fired a ballistic missile toward the East Sea on Wednesday, South Korea’s military said, marking the second such launch in less than a week in an apparent protest against an upcoming combined military exercise between the South and the United States.
The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said it detected the missile launched from the Wonsan area on the east coast at around 6 a.m.
The missile flew more than 700 kilometres, with a detailed analysis of its specifications under way by South Korean and US authorities, according to the JCS.
While the military has yet to specify the type or range of the missile, the range it provided suggests the launch likely involved a short-range missile, which typically flies 300 to 1,000 km, reports Yonhap news agency.
North Korea has the KN-23 short-range ballistic missiles, known as the North Korean version of Russia’s Iskander, which has a maximum range of 700- 800 km.
The latest launch came six days after the North fired what the South’s military has identified as a short-range ballistic missile toward the East Sea on Thursday.
The recent missile launches came as South Korea and the US are set to begin their key annual Ulchi Freedom Shield exercise next week.
Pyongyang has strongly denounced the allies’ drills as war rehearsals and conducted its own weapons tests around the training period in a show of protest.
Unlike how the North has usually revealed its missile launches through state media the following day or so, it has not published any reports on last week’s launch.
This has raised the possibility that the launch may not have succeeded or involved the test-firing of a new type of missile, or that it could have been a longer-range missile fired at a reduced range.
“It could be a repeat of last week’s launch following its suspected failure and is believed to be a test-firing aimed at improving its missile capabilities,” said Yang Moo-jin, a senior professor at the University of North Korean Studies.
“Given the intensifying war in Ukraine, it could also be a test to upgrade the Hwasong-11 missiles, which are designed to carry tactical nuclear warheads,” Yang said.
South Korean and US intelligence authorities tracked the launch from its early stage and shared information with Japan as well, maintaining a full readiness posture through cooperation between the two countries, the JCS said.
“Under the staunch South Korea-US combined defence posture, our military is closely monitoring various North Korean activities and maintaining the capability and readiness to respond overwhelmingly to any provocation,” it said.
South Korea’s National Security Office (NSO) expressed concerns over continued missile launches since last week, urging Pyongyang to stop such provocations that are in violation of UN Security Council resolutions.
The NSO convened an emergency meeting with defence and military officials shortly after Wednesday’s launch to assess the launch and its impact on security, and directed necessary measures, officials said.
The latest missile launch was also observed from an eastern coastal area in South Korea’s Goseong county in Gangwon Province, located about 130 km in a direct distance from Wonsan.
The US Pacific Command said in a media statement that it assesses the North’s recent missile launch as not posing an immediate threat to its territory and allies.
The latest launch marked the 11th such launch by North Korea this year to date.
