North Korea fires ballistic missile on New Year's Day
North Korea fired one short-range ballistic missile into the sea on Sunday, the South Korean military reported, as North Korea pressed on with previous year's record-breaking blitz of launches.
The New Year's Day firing reported by the Yonhap news agency was the second in as many days.
It came from the Yongseong area of the capital Pyongyang and landed in the East Sea, also known as the Sea of Japan, news agency Yonhap said, quoting the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Military tensions on the Korean Peninsula rose sharply in 2022 as the North conducted sanctions-busting arms tests nearly every month, including firing its most advanced intercontinental ballistic missile ever.
The Joint Chiefs of Staff said it detected the latest launch at 2:50 a.m. local time and that the missile flew about 400 kilometers before splashing into the sea.
Japan's coast guard said the ballistic missile reached an altitude of around 100 km and flew around 350 km. Japan's Defence Minister Yasukazu Hamada said Tokyo had protested to North Korea over the launch via diplomatic channels in Beijing.
The United States Indo-Pacific Command said the launch did not pose an immediate threat to US personnel or territory but highlighted the destabilising impact of North Korea's arms programme.
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol called the incident intolerable and added that the South should ensure that Pyongyang realized that 'provocations are always met with harsh consequences.'
South Korean's military staged drills Thursday that the country's top brass said would improve its defenses against any future drone provocations.
North Korea is holding a major party meeting in Pyongyang at which leader Kim Jong Un and other senior party officials are outlining their policy goals for 2023 in key areas including diplomacy, security and the economy.
Earlier last year, Kim said he wanted his country to have the world's most powerful nuclear force and declared the North an 'irreversible' nuclear state.
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