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Seoul (CNN) - North Korea fired an unidentified projectile on Thursday afternoon, Korea time, the South Korean Ministry of Defense said.
If it is confirmed to be a missile test, it would be the 13th Pyongyang missile test since May.
The increase in weapons testing occurs amid growing friction between North Korea and its main adversaries, South Korea and the United States. The nuclear negotiations between Washington and Pyongyang have been at a standstill for weeks, and North Korea recently stated that it is no longer interested in holding talks with the United States.
Thursday's launch took place on Thanksgiving morning in the United States, and the symbolism could be significant. North Korea has already conducted missile tests on major American holidays. His first successful test launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) was held on July 4, Independence Day of the United States, in 2017. North Korean state media called that launch part of a “package of gifts ”for“ American bastards ”.
LEE : North Korea fired 2 unidentified projectiles, according to South Korea
It also happens almost exactly two years after North Korea tested its ICBM Hwasong-15, which analysts believe could attack a large part of the United States with a nuclear warhead.
Those releases preceded the wave of diplomacy at the summit between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, South Korean President Moon Jae-in and US President Donald Trump.
But the nuclear talks between Pyongyang and Washington have been essentially frozen since the beginning of October, when the two sides met in Stockholm. That ended abruptly and without any agreement, and North Korea would continue to conduct two missile tests later that month.
Washington and Seoul postponed the military exercises scheduled for mid-November in an attempt to convince North Korea to return to the negotiating table, but Pyongyang rejected those efforts and went ahead with its own exercises.
US Secretary of Defense Mark Esper described North Korea's response as "disappointing," but said he did not "regret having tried to take the road, and keeping the door open for peace and diplomacy if we can move forward." .
However, the clock could be running. The North Korean leader, Kim, said in an important political speech in April that he would give the Trump administration until the end of the year to change his negotiating strategy. It is not clear how serious that period is.
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