North Korea launched a ballistic missile on Sunday, according to the Yonhap news agency, the latest launch as Seoul and Washington hold their biggest joint military exercises in five years.
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“North Korea is launching a ballistic missile at the East Sea,” said the Joint Chiefs of Staff in Seoul, quoted by Yonhap, alluding to the Korean name for the Sea of Japan.
Seoul has been conducting military exercises with Washington since Monday, unprecedented in five years, aimed at strengthening cooperation between the two allies in the face of the nuclear threat embodied by the North. They are called “Freedom Shield” and are supposed to last ten days.
These exercises infuriate Pyongyang, which perceives them as rehearsals for an invasion of its territory and regularly promises an “overwhelming” response.
The launch comes after Pyongyang launched its most powerful missile, the Hwasong-17 ICBM, on Thursday ahead of a visit by South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol to Japan.
The two neighbors have resumed the language at the highest level and decided to form a united front against North Korea’s aggressiveness.
It was the second ICBM test conducted by Pyongyang this year.
North Korean state media called it a reaction to “frantic” military exercises by South Korea and the United States at the time.
Last year, North Korea declared its nuclear status “irreversible,” and its leader Kim Jong Un called for an “exponential” increase in its military arsenal, including tactical nuclear weapons.