N. Korea launches a ballistic missile toward the ocean – Seoul

According to Seoul officials, North Korea launched a ballistic missile Friday as its rival South Korea was winding up an annual military exercise that the North considers as a practice for an invasion.

The Joint Chiefs of Staff of South Korea stated in a statement that the missile went toward the eastern seas of North Korea but did not provide any other information, such as how far the weapon traveled.

The launch, the most recent in a string of recent missile tests by North Korea, took place on the last day of South Korea’s annual 12-day “Hoguk” field exercises, which this year also included an unknown number of U.S. troops.

The air forces of the US and South Korea would exercise extensively the following week.

Although Seoul and Washington claim their exercises are defensive in character, North Korea views their regular drills as preparation for an assault on the North.

The opposing Koreas traded warning shots along their disputed western maritime boundary, the scene of previous bloodshed and naval confrontations, four days prior to Friday’s launch.

The launch occurred just after U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman warned about North Korea’s increasing provocations during a trip to Tokyo this week and reaffirmed that the U.S. would use all of its military resources, “including nuclear,” to defend its allies Japan and South Korea.

Additionally, there are worries that the North may step up the ante by executing its first nuclear test since 2017 in the upcoming weeks.

A second nuclear test explosion by North Korea “would be another another proof of a program which is moving full steam ahead in a way that is tremendously alarming,” said Rafael Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, on Thursday.

The UN, he claimed.

CIA has been monitoring the North’s plans for a nuclear test, which would be its seventh overall, but made no mention of whether an atomic explosion is about to occur.