North Korea test-fires ballistic missile as tensions grow over border mine blasts
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SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea fired a ballistic missile toward the sea on Saturday, South Korea’s military said, extending a recent run of weapons tests during heightened tensions between the rivals over border land mine blasts that injured three South Korean soldiers.
South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said the missile launched from the North’s eastern coastal Wonsan area flew more than 700 kilometers (435 miles) and that South Korean and U.S. militaries were analyzing the specifics. Japanese broadcaster NHK reported that the missile likely landed outside the country’s exclusive economic zone.
The South’s joint chiefs said the military stepped up surveillance and vigilance for possible further launches from the North and was closely sharing information with the United States and Japan.
Seoul’s presidential national security office called for North Korea to immediately halt its repeated ballistic launches, calling them a violation of U.N. Security Council sanctions and a “serious act that does nothing to help manage the current situation.” The launch came a day after the powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un ridiculed South Korean demands for the North to apologize over the land mine blasts that South Korea and the U.S.-led United Nations Command said were caused by North Korean mines planted south of the military demarcation line.
