North Korea fired a short-range ballistic missile into the ocean off the east coast of the Korean Peninsula on Sunday, South Korea and Japan said, in the most recent in a series of weapons tests by the nuclear-weapon state.
The missile, launched from Dongchang-ri on the west coast around 11:05 a.m., flew about 500 miles before hitting its goal, in line with a South Korean military statement.
Japan’s Ministry of Defense said the missile flew 30 miles into the air.
Seoul has condemned the North’s recent ballistic missile launches as a “clear violation” of a UN Security Council resolution.
Shortly after takeoff, South Korea’s Ministry of National Defense said the US had sent a B-1B strategic bomber to a joint air exercise that Seoul and Washington say are holding to bolster prolonged deterrence.
The launches also drew criticism from Tokyo and Washington.
“North Korea’s behavior threatens international peace and security and is unacceptable,” Japanese Defense Minister Toshiro Ino told a news conference, adding that Japan protested strongly through the North Korean embassy in Beijing.
![South Korean and US forces began an 11-day exercise](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/South_Korea_Koreas_Tensions_45740-8b977.jpg?w=1024)
![North Korea condemned the increase in joint South American military exercises.](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/South_Korea_Koreas_Tensions_82249-2fc6c.jpg?w=1024)
The U.S. Indo-Pacific Command said Sunday’s launch posed no immediate threat to U.S. personnel or its allies. Nonetheless, the recent missile launch highlights the destabilizing impact of Pyongyang’s illegal weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile programs, the statement said.
North on Thursday launched a suspected intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) into the ocean between the Korean Peninsula and Japan, just hours before the South Korean president arrived in Tokyo for a summit where ways to counter the North were discussed.
Pyongyang said Thursday’s launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile was a warning against military exercises between the US and South Korea, state media KCNA reported.
South Korean and US forces began an 11-day exercisesdubbed “Tarcza Wolności 23”, a week ago on a scale not seen since 2017.
![U.S. soldiers take position as a U.S. Army CH-47 Chinook helicopter prepares to land during a raid on a field artillery battalion at the Pocheon Army Proving Ground, March 19, 2023.](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/AFP_33BL9F2.jpg?w=1024)
North Korea also criticized U.S. and UN Secretary General António Guterres, KCNA later reported, for addressing human rights abuses at a recent informal meeting of the UN Security Council, describing the move as a “serious challenge” to its sovereignty.
“The USA launched a ‘human rights’ campaign against the DPRK within the UN arena while organizing aggressive joint military exercises that pose a serious threat to our national security,” state media quoted North Korea’s Everlasting Mission to the UN as saying.