A ballistic missile was fired by North Korea towards the Eas Sea on Wednesday, as announced by the South korea’s military. The Joint Chief of Staff announced the latest ballistic missile launched by Pyongyang, further details are stil awaited. The development has been confirmed by Japan’s Prime Minister office.
“North Korea has launched a suspected ballistic missile. More updates to follow.” The latest ballistic missile launch comes after North Korea fired an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) and two suspected short-range ones toward the East Sea on November 3, South Korea’s military said. The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said it detected a long-range ballistic missile launch from the Sunan area in Pyongyang around 7:40 am (local time). It further announced that the two short-range ballistic missiles (SRBMs) were launched from Kaechon in South Pyongan Province at around 8:39 a.m (local time),” Japan’s PM tweeted.
The long-range missile travelled roughly 760 kilometres. The Joint Chief of Staff (JCS) of South Korea said that the long-range missile reached a high speed of Mach 15 and that two short-range ballistic missiles reached a maximum height of around 70 kilometres while travelling at a top speed of Mach 15.
It also stated that, in collaboration with the US, South Korea has increased its surveillance and alertness while maintaining a ready posture. The missile launch by Pyongyang comes a day after it purportedly launched more than 24 missiles, the largest-ever barrage in a single day. For the first time since the Korean War, one of the missiles passed south of the de facto maritime inter-Korean border.
“Our military has beefed up surveillance and vigilance while maintaining the readiness posture in close cooperation with the U.S.,” the JCS said in a statement.
The launch of a ballistic missile by North Korea has been constantly denounced by the US and South Korea, and in November, they even engaged in a combined military exercise. Meanwhile, North Korea’s launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile was denounced by UN Security Chief Antonio Guterres on Friday.
In a statement, Stephane Dujarric, the UN Secretary-spokesman, General’s stated that the “Secretary-General strongly condemns the launch of a ballistic missile with an intercontinental range by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) as well as the barrage of various missiles over the past two days.”