(SEOUL) North Korea fired at least one ballistic missile on Monday, the South Korean military said, the latest in a series of weapons tests in recent weeks.
“North Korea fired an unidentified ballistic missile towards the East Sea,” the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff said, using the Korean name for the Sea of Japan.
The launch comes days after Seoul and Washington completed their largest joint military drills in five years on Thursday.
Pyongyang sees these maneuvers as rehearsals for an invasion. She claimed on Friday that the recent drills, dubbed “Freedom Shield,” were training for an “occupation” of North Korea.
The North Korean military responded by carrying out its own military maneuvers, including testing what it billed as a new “underwater nuclear attack drone”, and launching its second intercontinental ballistic missile. (ICBM) of the year.
After a record year of weapons testing and growing nuclear threats from Pyongyang in 2022, Seoul and Washington have stepped up their security cooperation.
Last year, North Korea declared itself an “irreversible” nuclear power, and leader Kim Jong-un recently called for an “exponential” increase in the production of weapons, including tactical nuclear weapons.
