New York: North Korea fired a suspected long-range ballistic missile toward the East Sea this week, amid tensions caused by Pyongyang’s accusations against US spy aircraft operations earlier this week, the South Korean military said.
South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said it detected the launch from an area in or around Pyongyang at about 10 a.m. (local time) without elaborating further, reports Yonhap News Agency.
“While strengthening our monitoring and vigilance, our military is maintaining a full readiness posture in close cooperation with the United States,” the JCS said.
The North’s last long-range missile launch took place on April 13, when it fired a Hwasong-18 solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missile.
Earlier this week, Kim Yo-jong, the powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, issued sharp-tongued statements claiming that US military spy aircraft “intruded” into the area over the North’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ).
The North’s saber-rattling also came after its failed launch of a space rocket carrying its first military reconnaissance satellite in late May.
The rocket crashed into the Yellow Sea after an abnormal starting of the second-stage engine, according to the North’s state media.
