UPDATE - North Korea fires ‘unidentified projectile’: South Korean military

UPDATES WITH COMMENTS FROM JAPANESE PREMIER; REVISES DECK

By Islamuddin Sajid and Riyaz ul Khaliq

ISTANBUL (AA) – North Korea fired an “unidentified projectile” toward the East Sea, the South Korean military claimed on Thursday.

Without disclosing details, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) told reporters about the launch, according to Yonhap News Agency.

According to Japanese authorities, the projectile was a “new type of intercontinental ballistic missile.”

The missile “possibly came nearest to Japan archipelago,” Kyodo News quoted a Japanese official as saying.

Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida blasted the missile launch as “reckless” and “unacceptable.”

Kishida, who is on a trip to Brussels to attend a G7 meeting, said Japan will coordinate with other countries in responding to Pyongyang’s “repeated ballistic missile launches that are in violation of UN Security Council resolutions.”

He said Japan will work with the US and South Korea on the “possibility of imposing additional sanctions on North Korea,” Kyodo News reported.

The latest launch came a week after Seoul claimed a North Korean ballistic missile failed to reach a certain altitude in its early boost phase.

The South Korean military said last week’s launch was part of earlier intercontinental ballistic missile tests by North Korea on Feb. 27 and March 5.

This year alone, North Korea has conducted more than 10 missile tests, including that of a newly developed hypersonic missile.

On March 11, South Korean officials claimed that North Korea has started restoring tunnels at its nuclear site that were closed in 2018.

Some parts of the nuclear site were destroyed in the presence of foreign media ahead of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s first meeting with then-US President Donald Trump.

The development came after Kim threatened in January that the country will consider resuming “all temporally suspended” defense activities to bolster its defenses against the US.

He was apparently referring to Pyongyang’s self-imposed moratorium on nuclear and long-range missile testing, which has been in effect since 2017.

On March 10, the North Korean leader announced that the country will launch a number of reconnaissance satellites “to keep a close eye on” military actions by the US and its allies in the region.

His remarks came a day after South Korea elected a new president who has signaled that he will be tougher on Pyongyang.

President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol has vowed to strengthen Seoul’s strategic alliance with the US and “build a strong national defense to deter North Korean provocations.”