DPRK fires unidentified projectile toward sea

SEOUL－The Democratic People's Republic of Korea fired an unidentified projectile toward its eastern waters, the Republic of Korea and Japan said on Wednesday, in the first such launch by Pyongyang this year.

The ROK's Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement that the projectile, believed to be a ballistic missile, was launched from Jagang Province toward the East Sea at 8:10 am local time.

It noted that the intelligence authorities of the ROK and the United States were analyzing further details on the projectile.

After an emergency meeting, the ROK's National Security Council "expressed concerns over the launch", according to a statement by the president's office.

Council members said the DPRK's missile launch came at a time when stability was required at home and abroad, stressing the importance of the resumption of talks with the DPRK to ease tensions.

The JCS said the military was closely monitoring the situation and maintaining a posture of readiness while keeping in close communication with the US to prepare for any additional missile launch by the DPRK.

The launch came hours before ROK President Moon Jae-in attended a groundbreaking ceremony for a rail line he hopes will eventually connect the divided Korean Peninsula.

Moon visited the east coastal city of Goseong near the border with the DPRK, where he broke ground for a rail line he called "a steppingstone for peace and regional balance on the Korean Peninsula".

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida described the projectile as a "possible ballistic missile launch".

Japan's top government spokesman Hirokazu Matsuno said: "We are continuing analysis, but if it took a normal orbit, it is expected to have traveled about 500 kilometers and fallen outside Japan's exclusive economic zone."

Stalled dialogue

The launch marked the DPRK's first missile test in 2022. Last year, Pyongyang said it successfully tested a new type of submarine-launched ballistic missile, a long-range cruise missile, a train-launched weapon and what it described as a hypersonic warhead.

Denuclearization talks between the DPRK and the US have been stalled since the second summit between the DPRK's top leader Kim Jong-un and former US president Donald Trump ended without an agreement in February 2019 in the Vietnamese capital of Hanoi.

Under Trump's successor Joe Biden, the US has declared its willingness to meet with DPRK representatives. But Pyongyang has accused Washington of pursuing "hostile" policies.

At the end of a key meeting of the ruling Workers' Party last week, Kim did not mention the US at all, Agence France-Presse reported.

Instead of the policy positions on diplomacy for which Kim's New Year statements have been closely watched in recent years, he focused on food security and development in an extensive speech.

Xinhua - Agencies