People watch a TV showing a video file of North Korea’s missile launch during a news program at Seoul Train Station in Seoul, South Korea, on Saturday, March 5, 2022. North Korea on Saturday fired a suspected ballistic missile into the sea, seemingly extending a string of weapons tests this year amid a prolonged freeze in nuclear negotiations with the United States.
Ahn Young-joon / AP
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Ahn Young-joon / AP
People watch a TV showing a video file of North Korea’s missile launch during a news program at Seoul Train Station in Seoul, South Korea, on Saturday, March 5, 2022. North Korea on Saturday fired a suspected ballistic missile into the sea, seemingly extending a string of weapons tests this year amid a prolonged freeze in nuclear negotiations with the United States.
Ahn Young-joon / AP
SEOUL, South Korea – North Korea on Saturday fired a suspected ballistic missile into the sea, according to neighboring countries’ militaries, seemingly extending a string of weapons tests this year amid negotiations. nuclear with the United States was in a prolonged freeze.
South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said it detected a ballistic missile launch believed to be from an area near the North Korean capital Pyongyang toward the country’s eastern seaboard, but did not immediately comment. how far this weapon has flown. The Japanese Ministry of Defense also assessed that the weapon could be a ballistic missile.
The Japan Coast Guard has issued a warning to ships that an object it describes as a potential ballistic missile may have landed in the waters between the Korean Peninsula and Japan, but There was no immediate report of damage.
South Korea’s presidential office said national security adviser Suh Hoon would chair an emergency meeting of the National Security Council to discuss the launch. There was no immediate comment on the US government or military launch.
This is North Korea’s ninth weapons launch in 2022 as the country continues to pause diplomacy to expand its military capabilities while trying to pressure the Biden administration to make concessions.
The warm-up comes as South Koreans wait in long queues at polling stations on Saturday morning to take part in early voting ahead of next Wednesday’s presidential election. The vote comes after months of intense campaigning in which the two major candidates clashed over whether South Korea should continue pursuing engagement with the belligerent North or take a tougher line to check the country’s nuclear threat.
The most recent launch comes about a week after South Korea and Japan said they detected North Korea firing a ballistic missile on Sunday that flew about 300 kilometers (190 miles) at a maximum altitude of about 600 kilometers. 370 miles). North Korea later said that the launch was designed to test a camera system it planned to mount on a spy satellite under development.
Other North Korean tests this year include a hypersonic missile with a purpose and the first launch of a medium-range missile since 2017 capable of reaching Guam, a major US military hub. in the Pacific Ocean.
Analysts say North Korea could strengthen its record in the coming months and may continue to test key weapons such as intercontinental ballistic missiles as it tries to maneuver with Washington, which preoccupied with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and regional competition with China.
During the ruling Workers’ Party conference convened by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un last month, Politburo members made veiled threats to resume nuclear and ICBM tests. , which Mr. Kim unilaterally suspended in 2018 to make way for diplomatic relations with then-President Donald Trump.
But negotiations were still derailed after the collapse of a second meeting between Trump and Kim in February 2019, when the Americans rejected North Korea’s demand for major sanctions relief in exchange for a major sanctions relief. take the dismantling of an old nuclear facility, which would have forced the country’s nuclear capacity to be partially abandoned.
The Biden administration has offered open talks with Pyongyang but is unwilling to provide the necessary economic benefits unless North Korea takes real steps to reduce its nuclear weapons and missile program.
