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North Korea fired at least one projectile into the sea on Monday, South Korea’s military said, in a fourth weapons launch this month as it demonstrates its military might amid pandemic border closures and paused diplomacy with the United States.
South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff didn’t immediately say whether the weapon was ballistic or how far it flew. Japan’s Prime Minister’s Office said it detected a possible ballistic missile launch from North Korea, but didn’t immediately provide more details.
Japan’s Coast Guard issued a statement urging vessels traveling around the Japanese coast to watch out for falling objects but no immediate damage to vessels or aircraft were reported.
The launch came after the North conducted a pair of flight tests of a purported hypersonic missile on Jan. 5 and Jan. 11 and also test-fired ballistic missiles from a train Friday in an apparent reprisal over fresh sanctions imposed by the Biden administration last week for its continuing test launches.
North Korea has been ramping up tests in recent months of new missiles designed to overwhelm missile defences in the region.
Some experts say North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is going back to a tried-and-true technique of pressuring the U.S. and regional neighbours with missile launches and outrageous threats before offering negotiations meant to extract concessions.
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