North Korea launched an unidentified ballistic missile into waters off its east coast on Sunday, days after a US nuclear-powered aircraft carrier arrived in the region for exercises, AFP and Agerpres reported.
“North Korea launched an unidentified ballistic missile,” South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff announced, without giving further details.
The launch, one of many by the Pyongyang regime this year, also came amid reports of North Korea’s intention to test an underwater ballistic missile.
The Japanese Coast Guard also mentioned the possibility of a ballistic missile launch, based on information from the Japanese Ministry of Defense, and asked ships to be on alert. Public broadcaster NHK reported that the object in question was located outside Japan’s exclusive economic zone.
On Friday, the American nuclear warship USS Ronald Reagan and the vessels attached to it docked in the port city of Busan on the southern coast of South Korea. This presence is in response to the desire of Seoul and Washington to increase the number of American strategic assets operating in the region. The USS Ronald Reagan will soon conduct joint exercises with the South Korean military off the country’s east coast.
South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol, who took office in May, has vowed to step up joint military exercises with the United States after his predecessor’s failed diplomatic approaches to the North Korean regime.
Washington is Seoul’s main security ally and has about 28,500 troops in South Korea. The two countries have been organizing joint exercises for a long time and insist on their purely defensive nature. However, North Korea considers them a rehearsal for an invasion of its territory.
South Korean and American officials have been warning for months that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is preparing to conduct a nuclear test.
In May, Pyongyang tested a short-range ballistic missile from Sinpo, a major North Korean shipyard.
The North Korean regime has tested nuclear weapons six times since 2006. The last and most significant was in 2017.
Source: Hot News RO
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