An unidentified ballistic missile was fired by North Korea on Sunday, December 17, according to the Japanese coast guard and the South Korean army, while the government in Pyongyang condemned the United States' war demonstrations, showing them as equivalent to “a preview of a war.” nuclear”.
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First, the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff stated that the short-range ballistic missile was launched into the sea off the east coast of North Korea. Then, 20 minutes later, the Japanese coast guard said the missile had apparently already landed outside Japan's exclusive economic zone (EEZ), broadcaster NTV reported.
Half an hour after the launch, North Korean state media published a statement from the North Korean Defense Ministry criticizing “military gangsters” in the United States and South Korea for raising tensions with exercises, shows of force and nuclear war plans, citing the arrival of the American nuclear-powered submarine USS Missouri, which arrived this Sunday, December 17, in the South Korean port city of Busan.
The spokesman also criticized South Korea and the United States for holding their second meeting of the Nuclear Consultative Group in Washington on Friday, as part of the allies' efforts to rationalize war planning and in which both countries share information on the planning in case of conflict with North Korea.
The threat
Last week, officials in Seoul and Tokyo warned about North Korea's nuclear weapons and the tests it was preparing for this month, including the launch of one of its longest-range intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM).
Kim Tae-hyo, South Korea's deputy national security advisor, stated on Friday that this intercontinental ballistic missile is considered a nuclear threat, regardless of its range, since it can carry a nuclear warhead.
“Nuclear attack will be the end of the Un regime”
On December 16, at the end of a coordination meeting with South Korea, once again (the third) the United States warned North Korea, through a statement, that any nuclear attack against the nation or its allies ” “It is unacceptable and will result in the end of the (Kim Jong) Un regime.”
All of North Korea's ballistic missile activities are prohibited by United Nations Security Council resolutions, although Pyongyang defends them as its sovereign right to self-defense.
With Reuters and local media
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