North Korea fired at least one ballistic missile into the Sea of Japan on Tuesday from a submarine, also known as the East Sea, as reported by the South Korean General Staff and the Japanese Government.
The South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff has indicated that Pyongyang launched a submarine ballistic missile on Tuesday at 10.17 am (local time) from a place near Sinpo, in the North Korean province of South Hamgyong, reports the South Korean agency Yonhap.
The intelligence authorities of South Korea and the United States are carrying out “an exhaustive analysis to obtain more information,” the South Korean Army has indicated.
For his part, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has claimed that North Korea has fired two ballistic missiles without reports of damage, according to the Japanese news agency Kiodo.
The Japanese authorities have agreed with the information from Seoul about the time and place from which the launch took place, which Kishida has called “extremely regrettable”.
Likewise, a spokesman for the Government of Japan recalled that with this launch, Pyongyang has violated the resolutions of the UN Security Council.
The firing of this projectile follows a series of Pyongyang weapons tests carried out in September, including that of a hypersonic missile or a newly developed anti-aircraft missile.
Also, Tuesday’s launch comes after South and North Korea earlier this month reestablished their direct lines of communication in an attempt to improve relations.
Relations have been affected by the stalemate in negotiations between Pyongyang and the United States in 2019 and because of Seoul’s joint military exercises with Washington.
North Korea is subject to international sanctions because of its nuclear weapons program, as United Nations resolutions prohibit ballistic missile testing.
Likewise, it has been developing missiles for years capable of reaching not only South Korea and Japan, but can also carry warheads to the United States, and it has declared itself a nuclear power.
Its latest test launches of submarine ballistic missiles date from 2015 and 2019, while Sinpo is the place from which Pyongyang tries to build a submarine capable of carrying such a missile, according to Yonhap.
