THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
January 17, 2022 at 09:35 JST
In this photo taken during Dec. 27 - Dec. 31, 2021, and provided on Jan. 1, 2022, by the North Korean government, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un attends a meeting of the Central Committee of the ruling Workers' Party in Pyongyang. (Korean Central News Agency/ Korea News Service via AP)
SEOUL--North Korea on Monday fired at least one suspected ballistic missile into the sea in its fourth weapons launch this month, officials in South Korea and Japan said, as it continues to demonstrate its military might amid pandemic border closures and paused diplomacy with the United States.
South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff didn’t immediately say whether the projectile was ballistic or how far it flew. Japan’s Prime Minister’s Office said it detected a possible ballistic missile launch from North Korea, but didn’t immediately provide more details.
Japan’s Coast Guard issued a statement urging vessels traveling around the Japanese coast to watch out for falling objects but no immediate damage to vessels or aircraft were reported.
The launch came after the North conducted a pair of flight tests of a purported hypersonic missile on Jan. 5 and Jan. 11 and also test-fired ballistic missiles from a train Friday in an apparent reprisal over fresh sanctions imposed by the Biden administration last week for its continuing test launches.
North Korea has been ramping up tests in recent months of new missiles designed to overwhelm missile defenses in the region.
Some experts say North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is going back to a tried-and-true technique of pressuring the U.S. and regional neighbors with missile launches and outrageous threats before offering negotiations meant to extract concessions.
North Korea says it has test-fired an anti-aircraft missile
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North Korea confirms missile test designed for submarine launch
October 20, 2021
S. Korea disputes North’s claim of hypersonic missile test
January 8, 2022
U.S. urges N. Korea to stop missile tests and return to talks
October 24, 2021
North Korea calls South’s leader ‘a parrot raised by America’
March 30, 2021
N. Korea launches ‘more advanced’ missile less than week after hypersonic test
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