The activity was detected shortly after the U.S. imposed fresh sanctions after the first two.
Seoul, South Korea — North Korea on Friday fired at least one possible ballistic missile in its third weapons launch this month, officials in South Korea and Japan said, in an apparent reprisal for its continuing test launches. South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said the weapon was fired toward the east but didn’t immediately say where it landed or provide other details. Japan’s Prime Minister’s Office and the Defense Ministry also said they detected the North Korean launch and said it was possibly a ballistic missile. The Japanese coast guard issued a safety advisory, saying an object had possibly landed already. It urged vessels between the Korean Peninsula and Japan, as well as the East China Sea and the North Pacific to « pay attention to further information and to keep clear when recognizing falling object. » A coast guard spokesperson told Agence France-Presse it was still analyzing whether it was one object or more than one. The Biden administration on Wednesday imposed sanctions on five North Koreans over their roles in obtaining equipment and technology for the North’s missile programs, in its response. It also said it would seek new U.N. sanctions. The announcement by the Treasury Department came just hours after North Korea said leader Kim Jong Un oversaw a successful test of a hypersonic missile on Tuesday that he claimed would greatly increase the country’s nuclear « war deterrent. » Tuesday’s test was North Korea’s second demonstration of its purported hypersonic missile in a week. The country in recent months has been increasing its tests of new, potentially nuclear-capable missiles designed to overwhelm missile defense systems in the region, as it continues to expand its military capabilities amid a freeze in diplomacy with the United States.
