According to the South Korean army, a short-range ballistic missile was fired Thursday over the Sea of Japan by North Korea.
“Our armed forces detected a short-range ballistic missile launched from the Wonsan region, in North Korea, around 17:00 (08:00 GMT),” said the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) in a media statement.
This comes amid tensions between Pyongyang and Tokyo, accused of turning into a “belligerent state” after strengthening its military presence in the Pacific.
Kim Yo Jong, the powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, said on Wednesday that Pyongyang would “put in place additional military options” in response to “the transformation of Japan,” in a statement published by the official KCNA news agency.
For this, South Korean and American authorities carried out analyses on Thursday to determine the exact characteristics of the missile, the communiqué also states.
South Korea and the United States are expected to carry out their annual joint military exercises this August, named “Ulchi Freedom Shield,” aimed at protecting the country from North Korea, equipped with nuclear weapons.
The exercises have been sharply criticized by Pyongyang, which views them as rehearsals for an invasion, repeatedly labeling Seoul as the “most hostile” enemy.
As a reminder, the two Koreas are technically still at war, as the conflict that pitted them from 1950 to 1953 ended with an armistice, not a peace treaty.
