North Korea launches alleged ballistic missile, second in week | Weapons News

The launch was detected by Japan and South Korea and came after six countries called for an end to “destabilizing” action in Pyongyang.

North Korea fired what could have been a ballistic missile on Tuesday morning, with Japan and South Korea saying less than a week after Pyongyang tested what it said was a hypersonic missile.

“Our military has detected a ballistic missile fired by North Korea from the ground into the East Sea at around 07:27 (22:27 GMT on Monday),” the Seoul chief said in a statement.

The shooting was also reported by Japanese coastguards, who said the North had fired “a ballistic missile-like object.”

The projectile appeared to have landed outside Japan’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ), the Kyodo news agency reported, citing Tokyo government sources.

“It is very unfortunate that North Korea continues to fire missiles,” Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida told reporters.

The latest test comes after six countries, including the United States and Japan, called on North Korea to end its “destabilizing actions” on nuclear weapons ahead of a closed-door meeting of the UN Security Council to discuss last week’s test.

The statement was also signed by France, Ireland, the United Kingdom and Albania.

“These actions exacerbate miscalculations and the risk of escalation and pose a significant threat to the stability of the region,” Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, said in a statement on Monday.

“(North Korea) makes these military investments at the expense of the well-being of the people of North Korea,” he said.

Denuclearization talks stalled in 2019 following a summit between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and US President Donald Trump.

Thomas-Greenfield once again calls on North Korea to return to talks and abandon missiles and nuclear weapons.

“Our goal remains the complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula,” he said.

Pyongyang is banned from testing all types of ballistic and nuclear weapons under the auspices of the United Nations and UN sanctions.

North Korean state media said last Thursday that it had been launched hypersonic missile, adding that the weapon hit a target successfully. The launch was detected the day before by Japan and South Korea.

Kim Jong Un said he was committed to modernizing the Northern Army and said the country had tested a hypersonic missile. last September.

Unlike ballistic missiles that fly into space before returning to steep routes, hypersonic weapons fly at lower altitudes and can move more than five times the speed of sound, or about 6,200 kilometers per hour (3,850 miles per hour).

In 2021, he also tested what he said was a long-range ballistic missile (SLBM), a long-range cruise missile, and a weapon fired from a train.

North Korea emphasizes that negotiations can only begin when the US and other countries end their policies as “enemies”.

But progress has been made by the military, as the economy has come under increasing pressure not only from sanctions, but also from drastic border closures as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.