North Korea allegedly fired one ballistic missile from ground

By Al Mayadeen Net
Source: Agencies
5 Jan 2022 08:56

The South Korean and Japanese militaries say North Korea launched a suspected ballistic missile into its eastern waters.

The test comes less than three months after the previous one

It was reported that North Korea fired an unknown projectile into the Sea of Japan early Wednesday. This could be North Korea's first nuclear test this year.

According to South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff, North Korea allegedly fired one ballistic missile from the country's interior toward the Sea of Japan.

This test comes less than three months after the previous one, which occurred on October 19, 2021, when North Korea conducted a submarine ballistic missile test.

"North Korea today at about 8:10 a.m. fired one presumably ballistic missile from the interior part of the country towards the Sea of Japan. The intelligence agencies of South Korea and the United States are conducting a detailed analysis of the additional information," the South Korean military told reporters in a statement.

According to the Yonhap news agency, the rocket was launched from the country's interior, implying that it was fired from a ground-based launcher.

Earlier, North Korea announced that it had successfully launched an anti-aircraft missile, the latest in a series of tension-inducing moves by the nuclear-armed state, which had previously been dormant since the change in US administrations in January 2021.

North Korea has also launched a long-range cruise missile in September and tested what it described as a hypersonic gliding vehicle, which the South Korean military said appeared to be in the early stages of development.

What are Hypersonic Missiles?

Strengthening food security in 2022

Earlier, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un put the economy at the forefront of his agenda-setting speech at the end of a key ruling party meeting on Saturday, according to state media.

The North Korean leader focused on food security and development at a Workers' Party of Korea central committee plenary, thus defying the US sanctions aimed at maiming and paralyzing the country's economy and resources.

In a speech at the end of the party meeting on Friday, he laid out plans for the coming year, the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported.

“Achieving an epoch-making step in resolving issues related to the people's daily necessities was presented as an important task," KCNA added in a report on Kim's speech.