North Korea fired a ballistic missile on Sunday, the eighth this year, after a month of lull during the Beijing Olympics and as international attention is focused on Ukraine.
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The South Korean army has "
detected a ballistic missile launched in the direction of the East Sea
" (the Sea of Japan), the South Korean army said in a statement.
The projectile, launched from Sunan near Pyongyang on Saturday, traveled about 300 km at a maximum altitude of 620 km, she added.
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The South Korean presidency expressed its "
deep concern
" over the launch, which comes "
at a time when the world is striving to stop the war in Ukraine
".
Shooting record in January
In January, North Korea had fired seven, a record number in a month, including that of its most powerful missile since 2017, while negotiations with the United States have stalled.
Read alsoNorth Korea confirms having launched its most powerful missile since 2017
The regime has also warned that it may drop its self-imposed moratorium on intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) and nuclear testing.
While the attention of the international community is focused on the war in Ukraine, many analysts expected Pyongyang to take the opportunity to resume firing.
“
They are restarting the machine
,” Shin Beom-chul, a researcher at the Research Institute for Economy and Society, told AFP.
“
They refrained from any provocation during the Beijing Games to spare their relations with China.
But whereas the interest of the United States turned towards Europe with the crisis in Ukraine and that the Security Council is unable to function, Pyongyang seized the occasion”
, explained this analyst.
On Saturday, North Korea held the United States responsible for the war in Ukraine, in its first official reaction to the Russian invasion.
"
The root cause of the Ukrainian crisis lies (...) in the authoritarianism and arbitrariness of the United States
," said a message published on the website of the North Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
This new show of force from Pyongyang comes as South Korea prepares to elect its next president on March 9.
The outgoing South Korean President, Moon Jae-in, has repeatedly warned that the Peninsula could at any time plunge back into the crisis it went through five years ago, if Pyongyang resumes its firing of intercontinental missiles or even its nuclear tests.
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