North Korea launches third ballistic missile in less than a week
The military in Seoul announced Thursday that North Korea fired an unidentified ballistic missile, hours after US Vice President Kamala Harris left South Korea, where she visited the demilitarized zone.
A statement from the Joint Chiefs of Staff in Seoul said that "North Korea launched an unidentified ballistic missile towards the East Sea," or what is more broadly known as the Sea of Japan.
Japan's Coast Guard confirmed North Korea's launch of a possible ballistic missile, citing information issued by the Ministry of Defense in Tokyo.
During her visit to South Korea, Harris headed to the heavily fortified border between the two countries as part of a tour aimed at strengthening the security alliance between Washington and Seoul.
In remarks she made at the demilitarized zone, Harris stressed that the US commitment to defending South Korea is "unwavering", adding that the two allies are "compatible" in their response to the growing threats to North Korea's weapons programs.
About 28,500 US troops are stationed in South Korea to help protect it from its nuclear-armed neighbor.
The two countries are holding large-scale joint naval exercises this week to show off their strength.
As for Pyongyang, it conducted two launches of banned ballistic missiles in the days before Harris' arrival, completing a record number of weapons tests this year.
North Korea launched a short-range ballistic missile on Sunday and two similar ones on Wednesday, according to Seoul and Tokyo.
Seoul and Washington intensified their joint military maneuver under the new South Korean President Yoon Seok-yeol.
The two countries insist the maneuvers are solely defensive, but Pyongyang sees them as a rehearsal for an invasion.
Seoul announced Thursday that it will hold a trilateral anti-submarine exercise with Japan and the United States, the first of its kind since 2017.
South Korean officials said over the weekend that they had seen indications that Pyongyang may be preparing to launch a ballistic missile from a submarine.
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