The South Korean military announced Wednesday that North Korea has launched a long-range ballistic missile, days after Pyongyang threatened to shoot down US spy planes that had violated its airspace.
The North Korean leader, Kim Jong Un, has called for accelerated military development, including tactical nukes, and relations between the two Koreas are at one of their lowest points ever. Diplomacy has also reached a standstill.
Seoul and Washington have stepped up security cooperation in response, threatening Pyongyang with a nuclear retaliation and the “end” of its current regime should it ever deploy nuclear weapons against the allies.
South Korea’s military said it had detected the launch of a long-range ballistic missile from the Pyongyang area around 10:00 am (0100 GMT).
“The ballistic missile was fired on a lofted trajectory and flew 1,000 km (620 miles) before splashing down in the East Sea,” the Joint Chiefs of Staff said, referring to the body of water also known as the Sea of Japan.
In order to avoid flying over nearby nations during some nuclear tests, Pyongyang has previously claimed to use lofted trajectory, which involves launching a missile up rather than out.
The JCS called on North Korea to cease such actions, saying the launch “is a grave provocation that damages the peace and security of the Korean peninsula” and breaches UN sanctions on Pyongyang.
The United States and its allies, including France, also sharply denounced the launch, according to a spokesman for United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who also expressed that the organization was “very concerned” about it.
