North Korea launches apparent ballistic missile just days after South vows fresh push for peace

3 yıl önce

correction

South Korean President Moon Jae-in is in office until May. An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated that he had two months left in office.

SEOUL â North Korea launched what appeared to be a ballistic missile Wednesday, authorities in Seoul and Tokyo said, just days after outgoing South Korean President President Moon Jae-in vowed to make a final push for peace with the Kim regime.

Get the full experience.Choose your plan

Pyongyang fired a suspected ballistic missile off North Koreaâs east coast at roughly 8:10 a.m. local time, according to the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff. The joint chiefs said intelligence agencies in Seoul and Washington were cooperating on further analysis of the apparent weapons test. The Japanese military said that the missile appeared to have fallen into the Sea of Japan, also known as the East Sea.

âIn close cooperation with the United States, the South Korean military closely monitors relevant movements and maintains a readiness posture in preparation for possible new launches,â said the JCS.

Numerous U.N. Security Council resolutions ban North Korea from testing ballistic missiles, though Pyongyang has repeatedly violated them. North Korea last conducted a weapons test on Oct. 19, when the nuclear-armed country fired a short-range ballistic missile from a submarine.

âThe fact that North Korea has continued to launch missiles [in recent months] is absolutely regrettable,â Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida told reporters Wednesday. âWe will continue to strengthen our surveillance more than ever.â

Earlier this week, Moon promised to use his remaining months in office to pursue a diplomatic breakthrough with Pyongyang. âIf an opportunity arises, our government â until the end of my term â will seek the normalization of inter-Korean relations and a path to an irreversible peace,â Moon said in his New Yearâs address on Monday.

Man who fled to North Korea is a likely previous defector to South Korea, authorities say

Moon has been pursuing an end-of-war declaration between the United States and the two Koreas in a bid to revive stalled negotiations over nuclear weapons between North Korea and the United States. Pyongyang has called such a declaration âpremature,â while Washington has expressed reservations about the details of any such resolution.

Meanwhile on New Yearâs Eve, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un pledged to bolster the countryâs military in a speech to the ruling Workersâ Party. Kim renewed his calls for Pyongyang to develop more powerful, high-tech weapons in 2022 but did not offer details.

Julia Mio Inuma in Tokyo contributed to this report.