North Korea fires new ballistic missile at Sea of Japan
North Korea fired at least one ballistic missile on Monday, the South Korean military said, the latest to date. a series of weapon tests in recent weeks.
North Korea fired an unidentified ballistic missile towards the East Sea, South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said, using the Korean name for the Sea of Japan.
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Japan's Defense Ministry also said a suspected ballistic missile was fired, with the coastguard saying the craft had probably already fallen.
The launch comes as Seoul and Washington conduct a joint amphibious landing exercise, just days after concluding their largest joint military drills in five years on Thursday.
Pyongyang regards the maneuvers as rehearsals for an invasion and claimed Friday that the recent drills, dubbed Freedom Shield, were training for an occupation of North Korea.
The North Korean military responded with its own military maneuvers, including testing what it touted as a new underwater nuclear attack drone and launching its second. Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) of the Year.
The North Korean military responded by conducting its own military exercises, including testing what ;it showcased as a new underwater nuclear attack drone, and launching its second intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) of the year.
Analysts had previously estimated that North Korea would likely use these drills as a pretext for further missile launches or even a nuclear test.
The agency x27; North Korea's KCNA reported on Friday that the underwater nuclear attack drone drill, personally supervised by leader Kim Jong Un, was conducted in an effort to warn the ;enemy against a real nuclear crisis.
The purpose of this weapon is to stealthily infiltrate operational waters and produce a large-scale radioactive tsunami […] to destroy naval attack groups and main operational ports of the ship. enemy, KCNA added.
The agency also claimed that Pyongyang on Wednesday fired strategic cruise missiles fitted with a test warhead simulating a nuclear warhead.
Analysts have cast doubt on North Korea's claims, adding, however, that it is no longer just stockpiling nuclear warheads, but is trying to perfect and diversify means of launch.
After a record year of weapons testing and growing nuclear threats from Pyongyang in 2022, Seoul and Washington have stepped up security cooperation.
North Korea's military provocations have also pushed Seoul and Tokyo to move beyond their historic differences and attempt to strengthen their defense cooperation.
The year North Korea recently declared itself an irreversible nuclear power and leader Kim Jong Un recently called for an exponential increase in the production of weapons, including tactical nuclear weapons.
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At the beginning of March, he also ordered his army to intensify its maneuvers are soldiers for a real war.
