🇰🇵🇰🇷 North Korea launches ballistic missile

North Korea on Saturday fired a ballistic missile from the Wonsan area toward the East Sea, according to South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff. The launch was detected at about 6:30 a.m., and the missile flew more than 700 kilometers before landing at sea.

South Korean and U.S. authorities tracked the launch from an early stage and are analyzing its specifications, with Seoul leaving open the possibility that it was a reduced-range MRBM or IRBM. The test came amid elevated tensions after a Sept. 21 DMZ mine blast that injured three South Korean soldiers, an incident Seoul attributes to the North and says violated the armistice.

Pyongyang has denied responsibility for the mine blast, while cross-border rhetoric has intensified in recent days. The launch also followed North Korea’s Sept. 20 firing of two short-range ballistic missiles from the same area.

#NorthKorea #SouthKorea

@asianomics