by North Korea has fired another intercontinental ballistic missile into South Korean waters, its third test this week, as the United States continues military maneuvers with a South Korea that Pyongyang views as a threat.
Pyongyang’s latest missile launch came hours before South Korean President Yun Suk-yeol traveled to Tokyo for a summit with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida aimed at repairing strained ties and cementing trilateral security cooperation with the United States, to countering North Korean threats.
THE the rocket traveled about 1,000 kilometersthe maximum altitude of six thousand kilometers, for 70 minutes, according to estimates by South Korea and Japan.
These details are identical to the February launch of another intercontinental ballistic missile, which experts believed had demonstrated the range to reach the interior of the United States.
The missile landed in the waters between the Korean peninsula and Japan after being launched on a steep trajectory, apparently to avoid neighboring countries.
Japan said the missile landed outside the exclusive economic zone and there were no reports of damage to ships or aircraft.
The launch comes as joint US-South Korean military exercises are underway, which Pyongyang sees as a rehearsal for an invasion.
The exercises began on Monday and are expected to last until March 23, including computer simulations and live-fire field exercises.
Pyongyang had already carried out two tests this week, firing cruise missiles from a submarine and also short-range ballistic missiles launched from North Korean soil at a target in the East Sea.
The weapons tests were expected after North Korean leader Kim Jong-un last week ordered the military to be ready to repel what he called “frantic war preparations” by the country’s rivals.
Last year, Pyongyang test-fired more than 70 missiles, including some with nuclear capability, to strike South Korea, Japan and the US mainland, saying many of those tests were warnings, following earlier joint military maneuvers by the US- USA.
Before leaving for Tokyo, South Korean President Yun Suk-yeol said: “There will be an obvious price for North Korea’s reckless provocations.”
The summit between Yoon and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is aimed at restoring relations between the two countries and consolidating tripartite security cooperation with the United States to counter North Korean threats.
In December, the Kishida government adopted a new security strategy in December, under which it plans to acquire pre-emptive strike weapons and cruise missiles to counter growing threats from North Korea, China and Russia.
