North Korea launches a long-range ballistic missile into the Sea of ​​Japan

North Korea launched a long-range ballistic missile into the Sea of ​​Japan this Wednesday morning, in the context of increased tensions in the region, but particularly on the Korean peninsula.

The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) of South Korea has reported the launch, which has been detected near Pyongyang around 10:00 a.m. (local time), without providing details about it for the moment.

"While we strengthen our monitoring and surveillance, our Army maintains a fully prepared posture in close cooperation with the United States," the JCS explained, according to the South Korean news agency Yonhap.

For its part, the office of Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, who is in Vilnius for the NATO summit, has given the order to devote "maximum effort" to collecting and analyzing information, ensuring aircraft safety and vessels, and take all possible precautionary measures.

The Japanese Coast Guard has announced, citing the Ministry of Defense, that the missile is believed to have fallen at about 11:15 a.m., outside the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), about 550 kilometers east of the Korean peninsula, without damage has been reported. According to ministerial portfolio officials, the missile would have been launched on a "high trajectory."

The Japanese government spokesman, Hirokazu Matsuno, has asserted that "North Korea's series of actions, including repeated launches of ballistic missiles, threaten the peace and security of the Japanese region and the international community, and are absolutely unacceptable," reports NHK television.

Kim Yo Jong, sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, denounced on Tuesday that a US military reconnaissance plane had "illegally entered the economic water zone" of North Korea about eight times in the sky of the North Korean Sea. Japan.

"In case of repeated illegal intrusion, US forces will experience a very critical flight," Kim warned, denouncing Washington's "provocation" along with Seoul, whose forces were carrying out joint military maneuvers.

North Korean authorities also denounced on Monday Washington's decision to deploy US nuclear submarines on the peninsula, believing that such a decision will increase tensions in the region. Following these statements, the US State Department urged Pyongyang to "refrain from escalating actions" and to "engage in serious and sustained diplomacy."