North Korea has fired a missile for the fourth time since the turn of the year, Japan’s Coast Guard said. South Korea’s military also claims to have seen a projectile. The Coast Guard said it could be a ballistic missile. The projectile has since ended up in the Sea of Japan.
Also on 5, January 11 and 14, launches were observed. The UN has banned North Korea from developing missiles that can carry a nuclear payload. Earlier this month, the country claimed the projectiles launched earlier were hypersonic missiles. South Korea questioned that claim.
A hypersonic rocket has a speed of at least 6200 kilometers per hour, or five times as fast as sound. Such a rocket flies at a low altitude and is very manoeuvrable. That makes a hypersonic missile difficult to intercept. In September last year, North Korea also claimed to have tested a hypersonic missile.
Sanctions
And the Tuesday North Korea then fired another missile, also a hypersonic one, it said. Kim Jong-un, the North Korean leader, attended the test for the first time in two years. Since September, six more missile tests have been conducted, some of which are new technology.
Last week, the United States decided to impose additional sanctions against Kim Jong-un’s regime. Assets of six North Koreans, a Russian and a Russian company in areas subject to US law have been frozen. They would be involved in providing money, goods or services to the North Korean weapons program. If other foreign companies do business with them, those companies are punished.
The country has also called on the UN Security Council for new sanctions.
Gangster-like attitude
North Korea reacted strongly. For example, the sanctions would be “isolating and suffocating” and the US would have a “gangster-like” attitude. According to the country, the tests are not a threat to other countries.
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