The US and Japan have confirmed that North Korea fired a missile just one week after it launched its Hwasong-12 rocket. The new missile had a shorter range, according to Washington, and possibly landed off Japan’s east coast, inflicting no damage to ships in the area.
The North Korean missile of unknown type flew about 500km and landed outside Japan’s exclusive economic zones, South Korea’s military said.
It added that the projectile is presumably a ballistic rocket. There are no immediate reports of damage to ships in the area.
The White House said that the rocket had a shorter range than those fired during three recent tests.
“We are aware that North Korea launched a [medium-range ballistic missile] . This system, last tested in February, has a shorter range than the missiles launched in North Korea’s three most recent tests, ” a White House official said, as cited by Reuters.
Tokyo has already condemned the launch, describing it as an “intolerable” move clearly violating UN Security Council resolutions.
