Following its ongoing unwillingness to respond to what were formerly daily cross-border communications, North Korea on Thursday fired an unspecified ballistic missile towards the East Sea of Japan on Thursday, Yonhap News Agency said citing the South Korean military.
According to the Joint Chiefs of Staff, they discovered the launch. However, they did not go into further detail about it as the investigation is underway. Tensions increased on Tuesday as state media in the North claimed that leader Kim Jong-un had called for strengthening his nation’s military deterrence in a more “practical and offensive” way, Yonhap News Agency reported.
Moreover, the Japanese government said the North Korean missile could be heading towards Japan as Pyongyang fired an unspecified missile in the East Sea amid rising tensions with Seoul and Washington.Japan has warned that a North Korean missile has possibly come down in Hokkaido Prefecture or in the waters nearby, NHK World reported. There are concerns that North Korea could conduct its first nuclear test in more than five years since it unveiled a new type of nuclear warhead earlier this month. Foreign experts debate whether North Korea has developed warheads small and light enough to fit on missiles. Thursday’s launch also came as South Korea accused North Korea of not responding to South Korean calls on a set of cross-border inter-Korean hotlines for about a week. The North’s alleged suspension of the exchange of messages on the communication channels could be worrisome because one of the hotlines’ roles is to prevent accidental clashes along the rivals’ sea borders.
Earlier this week, South Korean Unification Minister Kwon Youngse, Seoul’s point man on the North, expressed “strong regret” over North Korea’s “unilateral and irresponsible attitude “over the hotlines. Kwon also warned unspecified legal action over the North’s use of South Korean assets at a now-stalled inter-Korean factory park in North Korea.
