(Seoul) North Korea fired a ballistic missile toward the Sea of Japan, also known as the East Sea, the South Korean military said Tuesday.
Japan said it “appeared” that North Korea had fired a missile, the Kyodo news agency reported, adding that the country’s coast guard believed the missile had already landed.
The launch comes less than two weeks after Pyongyang state media reported that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un had overseen a successful test of a solid-fuel engine for a “new type of long-range hypersonic missile.” intermediate “.
Tuesday’s launch is the third ballistic missile test since the start of the year, following that of a solid-fuel missile supervised by Mr. Kim in March and another with a maneuverable hypersonic warhead in January.
Last year, the North claimed to have successfully tested its first solid-propellant ICBM – the largest and longest-range ballistic missile category – calling it a major advance for the North’s nuclear counterattack capabilities. country.
Missiles using this type of fuel are more maneuverable and safer, compared to those with liquid fuel, according to experts.
With solid fuel missiles, it is not necessary to refuel before launch, which makes their deployment faster, and therefore makes their identification and destruction by a possible adversary more complex.
Since the start of the year, Pyongyang has designated Seoul as its “main enemy”, closed agencies dedicated to reunification and inter-Korean dialogue and threatened to go to war for any violation of its territory “even if only to 0.001 millimeter”.