North Korea fired a new ballistic missile on Tuesday, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, which is currently conducting large-scale joint exercises with the United States, announced in Seoul.
“North Korea fired an unidentified ballistic missile into the East Sea,” the Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement, referring to the expanse also known as the Sea of Japan. .
Washington and Seoul began their biggest joint military exercises in five years on Monday, despite threats from North Korea, which announced hours before that it had fired two cruise missiles from a submarine.
Pyongyang said on Monday the launch was aimed at testing its “nuclear deterrents in different spaces,” while criticizing so-called “Freedom Shield” exercises planned to last at least 10 days to combat growing threats from Pyongyang.
growing tensions
Such moves arouse the ire of North Korea, which sees them as dress rehearsals for an invasion of its territory, and regularly warns against “overwhelming” actions in response to them.
The South Korean military said the drills “will involve warfare procedures to repel potential North Korean attacks and carry out a stabilization campaign in the North.”
In 2022, North Korea called its nuclear power status “irreversible” and conducted a record number of ballistic tests in violation of UN Security Council resolutions.
On Friday, North Korea’s KCNA news agency reported that leader Kim Jong Un had ordered his army to intensify military exercises for a “real war.”
Washington has repeatedly reaffirmed its “unwavering” commitment to defend South Korea using “the full range of its military capabilities, including nuclear.”
Source: BFM TV
