North Korea launches missile for first time since January

North Korea conducted a missile test for the eighth time this year. It was most likely a ballistic missile, reports the Japanese Coast Guard. The South Korean military also confirms that North Korea fired at least one “unidentified projectile” towards the east.

The missile was fired from a base near the capital Pyongyang. This is the first North Korean missile test since January. During this month, the country fired a record number of missiles, more than in all of 2021.

In January, these were mainly short-range missiles. On January 30, a medium-range rocket was also launched, reaching an altitude of 2000 kilometers. In photos believed to have been taken from the missile, North Korea from space to have.

Olympic Games

North Korea stopped launching missiles after the start of the Winter Olympics in China. Experts had predicted that the communist country would resume the testing program after the Games; China is the main ally of its neighboring Stalinist country.

The launch comes less than two weeks before South Korea’s March 9 presidential election. Presidential candidate Yoon Suk-yeol warned last week that North Korea could view the Ukraine crisis as “an opportunity to launch its own provocation”.