On Tuesday, the South Korean Military’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said, ‘North Korea fired a ballistic missile into the Sea of Japan, also known as the East Sea’.
The launch comes 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 intermediate-range hypersonic missile.
Japan also said ‘It appeared North Korea had fired the missile’. It also added, It also added that the country’s coastguard believed the missile had fallen.
So far this year, Tuesday’s launch is the third ballistic missile test, after the solid-fuel one overseen by Kim in March and another tipped with a hypersonic warhead in January.
Last year the North claimed it had successfully tested its first solid-fuelled ICBM — the largest, longest-range category of ballistic missile — hailing it as a key breakthrough for the country’s nuclear counterattack capabilities.
Notably, solid-fuel missiles do not need to be fuelled before launch, making them harder to find and destroy, as well as quicker to use.
The nuclear-armed North has declared South Korea its principal enemy, agencies dedicated to reunification and outreach, and threatened war over even 0.001 mm of territorial infringement.
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