North Korea test fires intercontinental ballistic missile
Pyongyang test-fired an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) on Thursday, its third launch this week, the South Korean military said.
“Our military detected one long-range ballistic missile fired from around the Sunan area in Pyongyang,” Seoul’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said, addding it was a long-range ICBM.
Japan’s government also confirmed the launch, and its coast guard estimated it landed roughly an hour after it was fired.
Multiple missile launches
North Korea had already staged two test launches this week amid joint military exercises being held by the South and the United States.
Pyongyang views the drills as a rehearsal for invasion and warned on Sunday that it will embark on “important practical” war deterrence measures.
It test fired two missiles from a submarine in the East Sea on the same day.
On Tuesday the North test-launched two short-range ballistic missiles off its east coast, South Korea’s military said.
UN resolutions prohibit North Korea from testing ballistic missiles, which could also be equipped with a nuclear warhead.
South Korean leader to visit Japan
The latest launch came only hours before South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol was due to fly to Japan for a rare summit with Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.
The summit, the first in over 10 years, is part of an attempt to overcome the two countries’ historical, political and economic disputes and to improve cooperation in the face of the North Korean threat and other challenges.
Both South Korea and Japan are ramping up defence spending and joint military exercises.
“There is an increasing need for Korea and Japan to cooperate in this time of a polycrisis with North Korean nuclear and missile threats escalating,” Yoon said ahead of his trip.
“We cannot afford to waste time while leaving strained Korea-Japan relations unattended. I believe we must end the vicious cycle of mutual hostility and work together to seek our two countries’ common interests.”
sms/lo (AFP, AP, dpa, Reuters)
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