South Korea’s military said North Korea launched a ballistic missile into the Sea of Japan, also known as the East Sea, on Tuesday.
The launch came less than two weeks after Pyongyang’s state media said North Korean leader Kim Jong Un had overseen a successful test of a solid-fuel engine for a “new type of medium-range hypersonic missile”.
Japan also said it “appeared” North Korea had launched the missile, the Kyodo news agency reported, adding the country’s coast guard believed the missile had fallen.
Tuesday’s launch was the third ballistic missile test so far this year, after a solid-fuel one Kim oversaw in March and another equipped with a maneuverable hypersonic warhead in January.
North Korea claimed last year to have successfully tested its first solid-fuel ICBM – the largest and longest-range category of ballistic missile – describing it as a key breakthrough for the country’s nuclear counterattack capabilities.
Solid-fuel missiles do not need to be refueled before launch, making them harder to find and destroy, and faster to deploy.
So far this year, the nuclear-armed North Korea has declared South Korea its “primary enemy,” eliminated bodies dedicated to reconciliation and cooperation, and threatened war over “even 0.001 mm” of territorial violations. (AFP/Z-3)
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