North Korea launched a ballistic missile off its east coast on Sunday, a move detected by South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff at about 3:00 pm local time (0600 GMT). The missile was fired from the Wonsan area toward the East Sea, also known as the Sea of Japan.
South Korea said it had increased surveillance and vigilance for further launches and that it was closely sharing information with the United States and Japan. The Japanese prime minister’s office confirmed the launch on X, describing the projectile as a “suspected ballistic missile.” Japan’s defence ministry later added that the projectile had “already fallen,” though it did not provide further details.
Following the launch, South Korea’s presidential National Security Office convened an emergency security meeting to review the country’s response and assess the impact on national security. The government called on Pyongyang to “immediately cease” its ballistic missile launches, describing Sunday’s firing as a “grave act” that violated United Nations Security Council resolutions.
North Korea has legally enshrined its status as a nuclear‑armed state, with its leadership declaring the country’s atomic arsenal permanent and irreversible.
North Korea rejected a UN nuclear‑watchdog resolution this week demanding it halt its nuclear activities. At the International Atomic Energy Agency’s General Conference, a foreign ministry spokesperson said the resolution “has no effect on the DPRK’s position as a nuclear weapons state.” Kim Yo Jong, the sister of the North Korean leader, recently said the country’s nuclear‑armed status was “absolute” and called those hoping for its denuclearisation “idiots.”
The missile launch came eight days after North Korea fired multiple short‑range ballistic missiles toward the East Sea as part of a joint firepower drill. The United States had earlier said the country possessed 57 “very powerful” nuclear weapons, while South Korea estimates the figure to be between 80 and 120.
<small>Source: Vanguard News — read the original story there.</small>
