Seoul (dpa) – North Korea shot a missile into the sea off its east coast on Friday, amid protests from Pyongyang against annual military drills by US and South Korean forces, South Korea reported.
The ballistic missile was fired at 5:55 am (2055 GMT) from the west of the country, and travelled east around 800 kilometres across North Korean territory before landing in the sea, South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency reported, citing Seoul’s Joint Chiefs of Staff.
An undated handout picture released by Rodong Sinmun, the newspaper of the Central Committee of the Workers’ Party of Korea, shows North Korean leader Kim Jong-un (left) observing a firing drill by a women’s artillery unit near Kangwon. Kim vowed Tuesday to conduct a nuclear warhead test and ballistic missile launches “in a short time,” state media reported.
The move comes amid increased tensions on the peninsula, since North Korea tested a nuclear device in January and a long-range rocket in February, prompting the UN Security Council to impose its strictest sanctions ever this month.
The isolated regime on March 10 launched two short-range ballistic missiles into the sea, according to South Korean officials.
The previous day, Pyongyang’s leader Kim Jong Un said the country has succeeded in making nuclear warheads small enough to be carried by its ballistic missiles, although some observers have doubted this.
North Korea has complained about the ongoing South Korean and US joint military manoeuvres, Key Resolve and Foal Eagle, which have been running since March 7.
The North says the drills are a rehearsal for invasion, and said Wednesday it would launch a preemptive attack if it sees any sign of an attempt to breach its boundaries.
An undated photograph made available on 04 March 2016 by the North Korean news agency KCNA showing Kim Jong Un, supreme commander of the Korean People’s Army, meeting millitary personnel during the test-firing of new-type large-caliber multiple launch rocket system. North Korea has developed the technology to fit a nuclear warhead on a missile, Kim was quoted as saying by state media Wednesday.
