North Korea fires ballistic missile in resumption of testing
Seoul: North Korea launched a ballistic missile into the sea on Sunday, its neighbors said, in a resumption of weapons tests following a monthlong hiatus and as the United States and its allies are focused on Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
The North Korean launch was the eighth of its kind this year and the first since Jan. 30. Some experts have said North Korea is trying to perfect its weapons technology and pressure the United States into offering concessions like sanctions relief amid long-stalled disarmament talks. They say North Korea also might use the U.S. preoccupation with the Ukraine conflict as a chance to accelerate testing activity to ramp up its pressure campaign on Washington.
Japanese Defense Minister Nobuo Kishi said the North Korean missile flew about 300 kilometers (190 miles) at a maximum altitude of about 600 kilometers (370 miles) before landing off North Korea's eastern coast and outside Japan's Exclusive Economic Zone. No damage to vessels or aircraft has been reported, he said.
If North Korea deliberately carried out the missile launch while the international community is distracted by the Russian invasion of Ukraine, such an act is absolutely unforgivable, he told reporters. Whatever the motives are, North Korea's repeated missile launches are absolutely inexcusable and we cannot overlook considerable missile and nuclear advancement.
South Korean officials said they also detected the launch from the North's capital area and expressed deep concerns and grave regret over it.
During an emergency national security council meeting, top South Korean officials said the timing of the launch, amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine, "is not desirable at all for peace and stability in the world and on the Korean Peninsula, the presidential Blue House said.
It said officials urged Pyongyang to accept Seoul and Washington's repeated calls for dialogue and to suspend any acts that would thwart efforts to resolve the North Korean nuclear crisis through diplomacy.
The launch came a day after North Korea made its first response to the Ukraine war in the form of an article by a government analyst that expressed support for Russia and slammed the
United States.
