North Korea fires ballistic missile into East Sea

North Korea launched a ballistic missile off its east coast Sunday, according to South Korean military officials, marking another weapons test days after Pyongyang reaffirmed its nuclear-armed status. The launch prompted an emergency security meeting in Seoul and comes amid escalating tensions over the regime’s atomic weapons program.

• ▪South Korea’s joint chiefs of staff detected the missile fired from Wonsan area around 3pm local time Sunday
• ▪Japan’s defence ministry confirmed the projectile had fallen, without providing additional technical details on the weapon
• ▪The launch followed North Korea’s rejection this week of an International Atomic Energy Agency resolution demanding it halt nuclear activities
• ▪It occurred eight days after Pyongyang fired multiple short-range ballistic missiles in what it called a joint firepower drill
• ▪South Korea’s presidential National Security Office convened an emergency meeting to assess the security impact and review response options
• ▪Seoul called the firing a ‘grave act’ violating UN Security Council resolutions and demanded Pyongyang ‘immediately cease’ such launches
• ▪North Korea’s foreign ministry said the IAEA resolution has no effect on its status as a nuclear weapons state
• ▪Kim Yo Jong, the leader’s sister, recently declared the country’s nuclear arsenal ‘absolute’ and dismissed denuclearization hopes as ‘idiots’
• ▪The US estimates North Korea possesses 57 ‘very powerful’ nuclear weapons; South Korea puts the figure between 80 and 120
• ▪South Korea, the United States, and Japan are closely coordinating surveillance and intelligence sharing on the missile

Source: according to media reports