North Korea fired a new missile, the third in a week

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

This potential trial comes after the United States imposed this week new sanctions on Pyongyang, who replied that he will never give up his “right to defend himself”.

“North Korea launched an unidentified projectile to the east,” South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said, without elaborating.

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 in recent days two tests of alleged hypersonic missiles, on January 5 and 11.

Following the second test, personally overseen by North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, the United States imposed additional sanctions on five people linked to North Korea’s missile program.

A spokesman for the North Korean Foreign Ministry accused Washington of getting rid of a “intentional escalation” on this 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.

North Korea has “the legitimate right” to develop new weapons as part of its process of “modernizing its national defense capabilities,” the spokesman added.

Yang Moo-jin, a professor at the University of North Korean Studies, told AFP that the time chosen to carry out this supposed test is “worrying”.

“The situation is worrying. North Korea has fired this shot immediately after releasing a statement saying it does not give up its ‘right to defend itself,'” Yang said.

“The message is very clear. North Korea is not going to give up anything regarding its weapons, and this despite the new sanctions,” the analyst added.

Negotiations over North Korea’s nuclear program they are stagnant since the failure of the historic 2018-2019 summits between then US President Donald Trump and the North Korean leader.

Pyongyang has resumed ballistic missile tests in recent months, with several releases since September.

Source: AFP