North Korea on Saturday fired what the South Korean military suspects to be a Submarine-Launched Ballistic Missile (SLBM) into the sea off its eastern coast.
The latest launch came just three days prior to South Korea’s President-elect Yoon Suk Yeol is inaugurated and it also marks Pyongyang’s 15th show of strength in 2022. South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said it detected the launch in the waters off the North’s eastern coastal city of Sinpo at 2:07 pm (local time), Yonhap news agency said in its report.
The North Korean regime had reportedly tested a suspected Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) on Wednesday. “The intelligence authorities of South Korea and the US are conducting a detailed analysis for additional information,” the JCS said. “Preparing against the possibility of an additional launch, our military, in close cooperation with the US, is keeping close tabs on related movements and maintaining a readiness posture,” it added.
Japanese Defence Minister Nobuo Kishi also said the North fired what is believed to be an SLBM and added that it flew almost 600 kilometers at an altitude of around 50 kms, Kyodo News Agency reported. According to Japanese officials, the missile is likely to have landed outside Japan’s exclusive economic zone. Kishi said North Korea could complete its preparations to conduct a nuclear test by the end of this month and Japan’s Defence Ministry has shared this information with the US, the Japanese news agency said in its report. The Japanese government has not reported any damages thus far.
