North Korea fires ballistic missile say both South Korea, Japan

SEOUL: North Korea has fired a ballistic missile towards the sea off its east coast, South Korea and Japan both said on Friday. South Korean military said that Pyongyang had fired at least one unidentified ballistic missile toward the East Sea as per a report in Yonhap. It did not give further details.

The Japanese government also said today that North Korea had fired what could be a ballistic missile. Japanese PM Sanae Takaichi told reporters that the missile apparently fell outside Japan’s exclusive economic zone, with no damage to planes or ships reported, Kyodo news agency said.

North Korea as per the Seoul-based Yonhap, last fired a short-range ballistic missiles northeastward on October 22 ahead of South Korea’s hosting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit and US President Donald Trump’s visit to the country.

It also fired multiple artillery rockets less than an hour prior to the visit by US defence chief Pete Hegseth to the Demilitarized Zone, separating both the Koreas.

Meanwhile, Pyongyang has vowed to take action to counter sanctions imposed on Tuesday by the US President Donald Trump’s administration.

The US Treasury Department announced earlier this week that it had imposed sanctions on eight North Korean individuals and two entities for their role in laundering funds stolen through illicit cyber activities. The department said that the individuals were “state-sponsored hackers,” whose illicit operations were conducted “to fund the regime’s nuclear weapons programme.”

Previously, on November 3, the US State Department had said that it would request the UN Security Council committee to impose sanctions on seven ships accused of smuggling North Korean coal and iron ore to China.

North Korea views its missile and nuclear programs as crucial for deterring any potential attacks on its regime. (ANI)