North Korea has launched an unspecified ballistic missile: the South Korean news agency Yonhap reports it, citing the country’s army general staff. The missile was launched towards the East Sea, also known as the Sea of Japan.
South Korea’s military said it had “detected a medium or long-range ballistic missile launched from the Pyongyang area at 07:23 (0:23 in Italy)”. The missile was launched on a “lofted” trajectory (that is, upwards instead of outwards, as usually happens to avoid flying over neighboring countries) and “flew for 1,000 km before ending up in the Eastern Sea”, the military said referring to the body of water also known as the Sea of Japan.
US National Security Council spokeswoman Adrienne Watson said North Korea’s latest missile launch “unnecessarily increases tensions and risks destabilizing the security situation in the region.” Watson said the United States will take all necessary steps to ensure the security of the American homeland and its South Korean and Japanese allies. During an emergency meeting of the National Security Council in South Korea, officials condemned the launch and stressed the need to strengthen tripartite security cooperation with Washington and Tokyo. Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida told reporters in Tokyo that he had scheduled a meeting of Japan’s National Security Council to discuss the launch. Top nuclear delegates from Seoul, Washington and Tokyo also had a telephone conversation in which they called for a “strong and united international response” to North Korean provocations and increased efforts to curb North Korea’s illicit activities that allegedly finance its program of armament.
