Asia: North Korea launches missile in East Sea

North Korea fired an unidentified ballistic missile into waters off its east coast on Sunday, South Korea’s military said. “North Korea launched an unidentified ballistic missile,” South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said without elaborating.

The launch, one of several by Pyongyang this year, follows reports that North Korea is preparing to launch an underwater missile. The Japanese Coast Guard noted the possibility of a ballistic missile launch based on information from the Japanese Ministry of Defense and asked ships to be alert. “Vessels are urged to be alert to any new information, and if you find any foreign objects, please do not approach them, but report them to the Coast Guard,” they said.

Japanese public broadcaster NHK said the material in question appeared to fall outside Japan’s exclusive economic zone. The US nuclear-powered ship USS Ronald Reagan and attached ships docked in the port city of Busan on South Korea’s southern coast on Friday. The presence responds to Seoul and Washington’s desire to increase the number of US strategic assets operating in the region.

South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol, who took office in May, has pledged to step up joint military exercises with the United States after his predecessor’s diplomatic efforts with North Korea failed. The USS Ronald Reagan will soon conduct joint exercises with the South Korean military off the country’s east coast.

Washington is a key security ally of Seoul and has about 28,500 troops in South Korea. The two countries have been conducting joint exercises for a long time. They insist they are purely defensive, but North Korea sees them as rehearsals for an invasion of its territory.

South Korean and US officials have been warning for months that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is preparing to conduct another nuclear test. In May, Pyongyang test-fired a short-range ballistic missile from Sinpo, a major shipyard in North Korea. The North Korean regime has tested nuclear weapons six times since 2006. The latest and most powerful test came in 2017, with an estimated yield of 250 kilotons. Pyongyang mentioned a hydrogen bomb.