Yonhap News Agency quoted the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff as saying, “North Korea launched an unspecified ballistic missile toward the East Sea,” referring to the body of water also known as the Sea of Japan, without providing further details.
This launch of a missile believed to be ballistic is the second of its kind carried out by Pyongyang in 2024, after its launch on January 14 of a missile equipped with a hypersonic warhead.
The test comes a few days after Seoul and Washington concluded their large-scale annual exercises, “Freedom Shield,” which included exercises to intercept missiles and air attacks, noting that the number of participating forces has doubled compared to 2023.
North Korea warned the United States and South Korea that they would pay a “heavy price” for the maneuvers, before announcing that its leader, Kim Jong Un, had supervised a large-scale artillery maneuver in which border units participated, “putting the enemy's capital within their reach.”
Since the beginning of the year, Pyongyang has designated Seoul as its “main enemy,” closed agencies dedicated to inter-Korean reunification and dialogue, and threatened to go to war in the event of any violation of its territory “even if it is only 0.001 mm.”
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