North Korea starts New Year with apparent ballistic missile launch

SEOUL/TOKYO: North Korea fired a suspected ballistic missile off its east coast on Wednesday, underscoring leader Kim Jong Un’s New Year vow https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/nkoreas-kim-talks-food-not-nu… to bolster the military to counter an unstable international situation.
Japan’s coast guard, which first reported the launch, said it could be a ballistic missile but did not provide further details.
“Since last year, North Korea has repeatedly launched missiles, which is very regrettable,” Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida told reporters.
South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff also reported that nuclear-armed North Korea fired a presumed ballistic missile from an inland location toward the sea.
“Our military is maintaining readiness posture in preparation for a possible additional launch while closely monitoring the situation in close cooperation with the United States,” the JCS said in a statement. Recent North Korean missile tests have often featured double or multiple launches. United Nations Security Council resolutions ban all ballistic missile and nuclear tests by North Korea, and have imposed sanctions over the programs. In state media summaries of a speech Kim gave ahead of the New Year, the North Korean leader did not specifically mention missiles or nuclear weapons, but said that national defense must be bolstered.For sever al weeks North Korean troops have been conducting winter exercises, South Korean military officials have said. Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, North Korea has become even more isolated, imposing border lockdowns that have slowed trade to a trickle and choking off any in-person diplomatic engagements.