North Korea launched an unidentified missile into the Sea of Japan on Friday at a time of rising tension on the Korean peninsula.
“North Korea launched an unidentified missile,” the South’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a brief statement, giving no further details on the approximate time of the test or the type of missile.
With this latest action, the number of missiles launched by North Korea rises to 45.
On Wednesday, the United States, Japan and South Korea warned Pyongyang that if it goes ahead with a nuclear test, it will result in an “unprecedented strong response.”
“All three countries agreed on the need for an unprecedentedly strong response if North Korea carries out its seventh nuclear test,” South Korea’s Vice Foreign Minister Cho Hyun-dong said.
Seoul and Washington have repeatedly warned that Pyongyang could be on the verge of carrying out another nuclear test, for the first time since 2017, after a series of ballistic missile launches in recent weeks.
A missile flew over Japan last month and North Korea said it had conducted tactical nuclear exercises.
“All of these behaviors are dangerous and deeply destabilizing,” said US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman, who urged North Korea to “refrain from further provocations.”
Japanese Vice Foreign Minister Takeo Mori said “North Korea’s intensification of nuclear and missile activities… is a clear and serious challenge to the international community.”
The three countries agreed to “strengthen deterrence in our region with a view to the denuclearization of North Korea,” it added.
Source: TSF
