Efe Seoul

Seoul

Updated Tuesday, January 30, 2024-03:52

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North Korea today launched several cruise missiles into the Yellow Sea (called the West Sea in both Koreas) in what is the

third test of this type in the last week,

the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) reported.

The South Korean Army "detected several cruise missiles of unknown type launched by North Korea towards the West Sea around 07:00 (22:00 GMT on Monday) today, Tuesday, January 30, and the intelligence authorities of the Republic of

Korea and the United States are carrying out a detailed analysis

in this regard," the JCS detailed in a statement.

This is the third launch of this type carried out by the regime in recent days after the tests with Pulhwasal-3-31 ('Burning Arrow-3-31') cruise missiles carried out on January 24 and 28, respectively, in the Yellow Sea and the Sea of ​​Japan (East Sea in both Koreas).

The North Korean leader,

Kim Jong-un,

himself witnessed the test on January 28, in which Pyongyang claimed to have fired the Pulhwasal-3-31

from a submarine

, which would have made a flight of more than two hours.

For its part, Seoul indicated that it is considering the possibility that the regime

exaggerated the flight duration of the projectiles

and did not want to confirm whether they were launched from a submarine or a submerged platform.

In September, North Korea unveiled its

new 'Hero Kim Kun-ok' submarine,

theoretically capable of launching different types of projectiles, including cruise missiles.

Experts believe that the Pulhwasal could be a third version of the Hwasal ('Arrow') cruise missiles and that the number 31 would refer to the fact that they can carry the Hwasan-31 ('Volcano-31') tactical nuclear warhead, whose existence was first revealed last year.

This new test occurs in a context of

great tension with South Korea,

after Kim Jong-un recently declared that the neighboring state is "the main enemy" and that reconciliation between both countries is impossible and then ordered the destruction of an iconic monument in Pyongyang that exalted a future reunification of the peninsula.