North Korea launched a ballistic missile on Sunday (January 4) amid international tensions following the US military operation in Venezuela. The situation became more sensitive as the South Korean president began a state visit to China on the same day.
North Korea has fired at least two missiles, the first in two months, that landed in the sea between the Korean Peninsula and Japan. Pyongyang has strongly condemned the US intervention in Venezuela, saying Washington has grossly violated the country’s sovereignty.
Analysts say the launch is both a message to China and a demonstration of North Korea’s military capabilities. Experts in Seoul say North Korea is trying to show that it is not like Venezuela, but rather a nuclear-armed state.
South Korea and Japan have strongly protested the missile launch. Seoul called an emergency security meeting and called it a provocation that violates UN resolutions. Japan’s defense minister also called it a threat to regional peace and security.
Meanwhile, the US Indo-Pacific Command said the incident posed no immediate threat to the US or its allies, but that close consultations with allied countries were continuing.