North Korea has fired a mid-range ballistic missile into the Sea of Japan, in its latest show of force to defy tougher international sanctions and US-South Korea joint military drills.
The missile was fired on Friday morning from a site north of Pyongyang and flew about 800km before hitting the Sea of Japan, Seoul’s joint chiefs of staff said. It was North Korea’s first test of a mid-range missile capable of reaching Japan since 2014, sparking strong protests from Tokyo.
It comes amid mounting tension on the Korean peninsula a day after US President Barack Obama implemented new sanctions on North Korea’s economy, on top of those imposed by the UN Security Council earlier this month in response to January’s nuclear test and February’s long-range missile launch.