North Korea launches ballistic missile into Japan Sea: Seoul
Seoul, May 4 (EFE).- North Korea fired what appears to be a ballistic missile Wednesday into the Sea of Japan (called the East Sea in the two Koreas), according to the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff.
It added that the launch, the 14th by the regime since the beginning of the year, was carried out from Pyongyang, where the North Korean military recently fired two intercontinental ballistic missiles, in the first such tests in more than four years.
The Japanese government also said it believes North Korea fired a ballistic missile.
This new test occurs just six days before the new South Korean president, the conservative Yun Suk-yeol, takes office.
The launch also comes two weeks before Yun hosts a visit from United States President Joe Biden in Seoul.
North Korea, which remains completely closed to the outside world due to the pandemic and with no known vaccination plan, has rejected offers made so far by the Biden government to rekindle the disarmament dialogue stalled since 2019.
The regime last year approved a five-year weapons modernization plan behind the record volume of projectile tests. Satellites have been detecting activity for months showing North Korea will soon carry out its first nuclear test since 2017. EFE
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