It marked Pyongyang’s seventh weapons test this year. (Represent)
Seoul:
South Korea’s military said North Korea fired an “unidentified projectile” Sunday, its seventh weapons test this month in one of the most intense launches on record as the regime This exercised military muscle while ignoring US offers for negotiations.
The last time North Korea tested multiple of these weapons in a single month was in 2019, after high-level talks between leader Kim Jong Un and then-US President Donald Trump collapsed.
Since then, negotiations with the US have stalled and the country is reeling economically from international sanctions and a self-imposed coronavirus blockade.
“North Korea fired an unidentified projectile toward the South China Sea (Sea of Japan),” Seoul’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement.
The Japan Coast Guard meanwhile said it had detected a launch “probably a ballistic missile”.
This year, Pyongyang has begun a series of new sanctions tests, including hypersonic missiles, after Mr Kim reaffirmed his commitment to modernizing the military in a key party speech in December. .
Pyongyang carried out two weapons tests last week and conducted at least four more this month – including what it called a hypersonic missile on January 5 and 11.
On Friday, state media released photos showing Mr. Kim wearing the usual long leather jacket with a black belt, surrounded by uniformed officials – their faces identical – is inspecting a weapons factory that manufactures “a primary weapon system”.
North Korea hasn’t tested an intercontinental ballistic missile or nuclear weapon since 2017, pausing the launches as Kim embarked on high-level diplomacy through three meetings with then-US President Donald Trump. Donald Trump and other top leaders.
But this month, the regime hinted that it might restart such launches, blaming “hostile” US policy for forcing it to take action.
The series of events launching in 2022 comes at a delicate time in the region, as Mr Kim’s only major ally China will host the Winter Olympics next month and South Korea gears up for the election. presidential election in March.
Domestically, North Korea is preparing to celebrate the 80th birthday of late leader Kim Jong Il in February, as well as the 110th birthday of its founder Kim Il Sung in April.
With reports of soaring food prices and worsening hunger, an economically struggling Pyongyang recently restarted cross-border trade with neighboring China.
And ally Beijing, along with Russia, this month blocked the United Nations Security Council from imposing new sanctions in response to recent tests.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from the syndication feed.)
