DPRK fires ballistic missile off its east coast, S. Korea, Japan claim
South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff reports the firing of the missile off the country's east coast on Monday.
DPRK fired a ballistic missile into the sea off its east coast late on Monday, South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff claimed.
The Japanese Defense Ministry also reported the launch of what could be a ballistic missile by the DPRK.
The claims come as tensions on the Korean peninsula rise as South Korea and the United States cooperate further militarily against DPRK, including the deployment of US strategic military assets.
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Days ago, Yonhap reported that the DPRK launched at least one ballistic missile into the sea hours after a senior US official confirmed on Tuesday that a US nuclear-armed ballistic missile submarine (SSBN) reached South Korea, in a first since the 1980s, followed by another, the USS Annapolis, which loaded military supplies in Jeju as it conducted an unspecified operational mission.
On July 13, the DPRK also fired a ballistic missile according to Seoul's military, two days after US spy planes violated its airspace while state media of the DPRK reported that it successfully conducted a missile test of the ICBM solid-fuel Hwasong-18.
Last week, the DPRK accused a US spy plane of violating the country's airspace and continued to decry US plans to deploy a nuclear missile submarine near the Korean peninsula.
Earlier, Kim Yo Jong, the Deputy Department Director of the Publicity and Information Department of the Workers' Party of Korea, warned the United States against any "foolish act" that would jeopardize its security and dismissed offers of negotiations as a ruse, according to state news agency KCNA.
Kim's remarks came after the White House expressed its concern that the country might conduct another intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) test after it fired an ICBM off its east coast last week.