North Korea fires new unidentified projectile

North Korea fired an unidentified projectile, the South Korean military said Friday, in what would be the country’s third weapons test in just over a week.

“North Korea launched an unidentified projectile to the east,” South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said.

Japan’s coast guard said it had detected “the launch from North Korea of ​​what appears to be one or more ballistic missiles at 2:55 p.m. (0555 GMT).”

A coastguard spokesman told AFP they were analyzing where it fell and whether it was one or multiple objects.

Despite international sanctions on its weapons and nuclear program, Pyongyang has carried out two tests of alleged hypersonic missiles in recent days, on January 5 and 11.

Following the second test, personally overseen by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, the United States imposed sanctions on five people linked to the ballistic weapons program.

(Also: Iraq: At Least Two Wounded in Attack Near US Embassy)

A North Korean Foreign Ministry spokesman accused Washington of “intentionally escalating” the situation.

If “the United States adopts a confrontational posture, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea will be forced to take a stronger and firmer reaction,” the spokesman said in comments collected by the official KCNA news agency on Friday before the shooting.

AFP

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