New Delhi: North Korea launched an unspecified ballistic missile on Monday, the South Korean military said. This is North Korea’s second missile launch in less than 48 hours and a day after joint US-South Korean drills, as reported by the news agency AFP. "North Korea fired an unspecified ballistic missile toward the East Sea on Monday," Seoul's Joint Chief of Staff said, according to the official Yonhap news agency, referring to the body of water also known as the Sea of Japan.
"North Korea has launched a suspected ballistic missile," the office of Japan's prime minister tweeted on Monday morning. The Japanese Coastguard said soon after that the projectile "appears to have already fallen," without providing further details, AFP reported. The United States and South Korea on Sunday conducted joint air drills in response to a North Korean intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) launch a day earlier. The drills featured a strategic bomber and stealth fighter jets.
Japan said the ICBM had flown for 66 minutes and landed in its exclusive economic zone (EEZ). North Korea later said the missile launched Saturday was a Hwasong-15 and was part of a "surprise" drill to demonstrate Pyongyang's capacity to carry out a "fatal nuclear counterattack".
The missile test done on Saturday was North’s first missile firing since January 1. It came after Pyongyang threatened an "unprecedentedly persistent, strong" response on Friday. This comes at a time when South Korea and the United States are gearing up for annual military exercises as part of efforts to fend off the North's growing nuclear and missile threats, as reported by news agency Reuters.
The missile flew 989 kilometers for 4015 seconds. According to the state news agency, it flew up to a maximum altitude of 5768 kilometers before accurately hitting a preset area in open waters. Hwasong-15 was first tested in 2017.