North Korea launched a ballistic missile into the East Sea on the 31st of Korean Peninsula Time, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said.
The Joint Chiefs of Staff reported that North Korea detected three short-range ballistic missiles fired into the East Sea from the Junghwa county area, North Hwanghae province around 8:00 am that day.
The South Korean military is analyzing the flight distance, altitude and speed of the ballistic missile.
“We are maintaining a position of full readiness as we work closely with the United States while strengthening surveillance and vigilance,” the Joint Chiefs of Staff said.
The Japanese government has also confirmed North Korea’s missile launches.
According to Japanese media reports, the Japanese Coast Guard announced at 8:11 the same day, citing information from the Ministry of Defense, that “a possible ballistic missile appears to have already gone down.”
North Korea’s ballistic missile launch comes eight days after it launched two short-range ballistic missiles (SRBMs) in the Sunan area of Pyongyang on the 23rd.
North Korea has fired 73 ballistic missiles on 38 occasions this year, including intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs).
South Korean media analyzed that North Korea’s ballistic missile launch appears to be a strong response to the South Korean military’s successful test flight of a solid fuel-powered space launch vehicle the previous day.
Earlier, the South Korean military announced that it had successfully tested a space launch vehicle with a solid fuel propulsion engine by reaching a maximum altitude of 450km from the Anheung Proving Ground in Taean in southern Chungcheong province in the Western Sea.
This is VOA News Hamjiha.
