People watch the news at a station in Seoul, South Korea, 18 December 2023. EFE/EPA/JEON HEON-KYUN
“Our military detected one presumed to be a long-range ballistic missile launched from the Pyongyang area to the East Sea [Sea of Japan] at around 08:24 today,” the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said in a statement.
Japan’s defense ministry confirmed the time of the launch and said that at 9.37 am (00:37 GMT) the projectile was expected to have fallen outside the country’s exclusive economic zone about 250 kilometers west of Okushiri Island in Hokkaido, according to the state broadcaster NHK.
The duration of the flight coincides with previous North Korean ICBM launches and the trajectories used to test this type of projectile.
This would be a record fifth ICBM launched by the regime this year.
This launch occurs after North Korea fired a short-range ballistic missile on Sunday, and marks Pyongyang’s 27th weapons test reported this year.
It also comes three days after South Korea’s deputy national security adviser, Kim Tae-hyo said that there were signs that Kim Jong-un’s regime could launch an ICBM in the coming days.
The last ICBM that Pyongyang tested was launched last July, when it fired a solid-fuel Hwasong-18 projectile from the outskirts of the North Korean capital.
This latest North Korean action also occurs after Pyongyang announced on Nov. 23 that it was canceling the implementation of a military treaty with Seoul signed in 2018 to reduce tension in border areas, in what represents another disagreement contributing to a worsening environment on the peninsula. EFE
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