Japan military: North Korea fires possible ballistic missile for first time in month

The Japan’s military says North Korea has fired an apparent ballistic missile in its first test since launching a raft of projectiles in January.

Japan’s coast guard reported the launch on Sunday while South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff also reported that the North had fired at least one “unidentified projectile” eastward, without elaborating.

Japan’s official Kyodo news agency said the projectile had landed outside Japan’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ).

The South’s military also said the launch took place from near the North Korean capital city of Pyongyang.

According to Japan’s defense minister, North Korea’s Sunday missile may have reached altitude of around 600 kilometers and it had likely flown around 300 kilometers.

Sunday’s launch came less than two weeks ahead of a March 9 presidential election in South Korea, amid speculations by some in Seoul that North Korea may push ahead with missile development while international attention is focused on Russia’s military operations of Ukraine.

Analysts, however, have noted that even before the Russian military operations, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un was overseeing an increase in missile tests as talks with the United States and its allies remained stalled.

North Korea’s last test was on Jan. 30, when it fired a Hwasong-12 intermediate range ballistic missile, the largest weapon fired since 2017. That capped a record month of mostly short-range missile launches in January.

The missile was launched from the North Korean Province of Jagang, which borders China, and flew across the North before falling into the sea off the country’s east coast, both the South Korean and Japanese governments reported.

Japanese officials said the missile, based on their initial assessment of its flight path, potentially reached a maximum altitude of 2,000 kilometers (1,242 miles) and traveled 800 kilometers (497 miles) before landing in the sea.

The test was North Korea’s sixth ballistic missile launch in 2022.

The North has vowed to strengthen its nuclear “war deterrent” and build more powerful weapons.