North Korea fires missile over 700 kilometers into East Sea

North Korea fired a ballistic missile into the East Sea on Saturday that flew more than 700 kilometers (435 miles), according to the South Korean military.

The launch came 13 days after the North’s last missile test, and 12 days after three South Korean soldiers were injured by a North Korean land mine in the demilitarized zone (DMZ).

According to the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS), South Korea's military detected one ballistic missile fired from the Wonsan area on North Korea's east coast toward the East Sea at around 6:30 a.m.

South Korean and U.S. intelligence authorities are analyzing the missile's exact specifications, having tracked related activity and shared information from the launch's early stages.

The military has not yet determined whether the missile was short-range or intermediate-range, and is keeping both possibilities open.

"Under the firm Korea-U.S. combined defense posture, our military is closely monitoring North Korea's various activities while maintaining the capability and readiness to respond overwhelmingly to any provocation," the JCS said.

The National Security Office at the presidential office held an emergency security meeting on the same day, attended by officials from the Ministry of National Defense, the JCS and other relevant agencies.

The office reviewed the military's response, assessed the launch's impact on national security and ordered necessary measures. Given that the launch followed the recent mine explosion in the DMZ, it also rechecked whether there were any problems with military readiness.

"North Korea's repeated ballistic missile launches not only violate United Nations Security Council resolutions, but are also a grave act that does nothing to help manage the current situation," the presidential office said. "We urge [North Korea] to immediately stop them."

UN Security Council resolutions bar North Korea from any launch using ballistic missile technology.

The U.S. Indo-Pacific Command said it was "consulting closely with our allies and partners," adding, "Based on current assessments, this event does not pose an immediate threat to U.S. personnel or territory, or to our allies."

U.S. Forces Korea also said, "Based on current assessments, these events do not pose an immediate threat to U.S. personnel or territory, or to our allies."

North Korea's last ballistic missile launch was on Sept. 20. It fired two short-range ballistic missiles three hours apart, which flew about 450 kilometers and more than 600 kilometers, respectively.

North Korean state media claimed on Sept. 22 that the North had successfully tested "a new-type weapon," describing it as highly significant in the rapid technological development of its weapon systems.

On Sept. 21, three South Korean soldiers were injured when a North Korean land mine exploded in the DMZ near the military demarcation line (MDL) in Paju, Gyeonggi. The MDL is the de facto border between the two Koreas, running through the middle of the 4-kilometer-wide DMZ.

On Friday, Kim Yo-jong, director of the Workers' Party's General Affairs Department and sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, derided President Lee Jae Myung's Armed Forces Day speech as "the climax of the farce that everyone should watch."

She also dismissed Unification Minister Chung Dong-young's proposal for inter-Korean dialogue as "a delusional, one-sided rant not worth responding to," according to the Korean Central News Agency, the North's state media.

BY PARK JONG-SUH   [[email protected]]