Pyongyang released images of the launch and claims this missile is equipped with new precision technology.<\/b>
\nNorth Korea reportedly launched a short-range \u201cScud-type\u201d missile Monday, the country\u2019s third missile test in about as many weeks. North Korea appears to have successfully tested medium-to-long-range missiles in the past two weeks, after a series of failures in April.
The South Korean military said the missile flew approximately 450 miles east and landed in the Sea of Japan, within Japan\u2019s exclusive economic zone.
North Korea, releasing images of the alleged blastoff, bragged about what it claims was a \u201csuccessful\u201d test of a new and more accurate ballistic missile \u2014 one that is \u201ccapable of making ultra-precision strike on the enemies\u2019 objects at any area, \u201d claimed KCNA, North Korea\u2019s state-run media arm. North Korea also claimed that it used a mobile launching system, which, if true, would allow the country to more swiftly deploy its missiles. According to Reuters, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un boasted in the state-run paper that North Korea would continue to develop more weapons, and plans to send a bigger \u201cgift package\u201d to the \u201cYankees.\u201d
\u201cWhenever news of our valuable victory is broadcast recently, \u201d the KCNA also reported Kim as saying, \u201cthe Yankees would be very much worried about it and the gangsters of the South Korean puppet army would be dispirited more and more.\u201d
Experts are skeptical of North Korea\u2019s claims, which require further analysis. Still, North Korea has picked up the pace of its missile testing in recent weeks, even in the face of widespread international condemnation. In 2017 alone, it has conducted about a dozen missile tests.
Trump, who was briefed on North Korea\u2019s latest action, condemned Pyongang on Twitter.
While it\u2019s true that China has urged North Korea to cease its missile tests, it has also called on the U. S. to pare back its own saber-rattling through its joint military operations with South Korea \u2014 which Pyongyang continues to interpret as a provocation. In a statement on Monday, the Chinese foreign ministry asked both parties to \u201cremain calm and restrained\u2026 and bring the peninsula issue onto the right track of peaceful dialogue again.\u201d
Meanwhile, in California, the U. S. military is preparing for its own anti-missile launch Tuesday, reports CBS, a direct response to North Korea\u2019s escalating weapons tests. The test of the ground-based interceptor, which apparently can be seen from Los Angeles, will fly into the Pacific and intercept a \u201ctarget object\u201d \u2014 a stand-in for what could be an ICBM fired off from North Korea.<\/p>\n