North Korea launched an unidentified ballistic missile this Monday towards the Sea of Japan (known as the East Sea in both Koreas), according to the South Korean Army, after Pyongyang fired another short-range projectile the day before.
The South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) indicated that it detected the new launch this Monday, without giving more details at the moment, while the Japanese Ministry of Defense also reported the test and added that it is collecting information about it and about its possible impact on national security.
The Japanese Ministry of Defense announced that the launch occurred at 8:24 local time (23:24 Monday GMT) and fell at 9:37 (00:37 GMT) outside the country’s special economic zone (EEZ). Asian, 250 kilometers west of Okushiri Island in Hokkaido (northern Japan), according to the state broadcaster NHK.
“I have ordered that information be provided to the Japanese people and their safety confirmed, although we have not yet received a report of damage and we are confirming the situation,” said the Japanese prime minister, Fumio Kishida, in statements to the media.
The new launch occurs after North Korea launched another unidentified ballistic missile the day before into the East Sea (the name given to the Sea of Japan in the two Koreas), which the JCS later identified as short range.