Seoul (EFE).- North Korea today fired a ballistic missile into the Sea of Japan (called the East Sea in the two Koreas).
This launch takes place in full maneuver of an American aircraft carrier in the zone and on the eve of the visit of the American vice-president, Kamala Harris, in South Korea.
In a brief statement, the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said “North Korea launched an unidentified ballistic missile into the East Sea”, without providing further details on the incident. projectile at the moment.
Visiting Kamala Harris
Last weekend, coinciding with the arrival in the region of the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan, and a day before the arrival of Harris in South Korea, a similar launch had already been recorded.
Indeed, Harris is in Japan this Wednesday, where he today visited the Yokosuka base, the largest American naval enclave abroad, and where the number two of the Biden administration reiterated Washington’s commitment. for the defense of its partners in the region.
The Japanese government, for its part, has called an emergency meeting to analyze the information available on the North Korean launch, while the Japanese coast guard tries to determine the point where the missile touched down.
message of strength
The Ronald Reagan aircraft carrier, which has its base port in Yokosuka, will conduct joint exercises on the South Korean east coast until tomorrow.
These exercises aim to send a message to North Korea, disconnected from the dialogue on disarmament since the start of the pandemic and immersed in a plan to modernize armaments.
And it is that the intelligence services of Seoul and Washington take for granted that Pyongyang has been ready for months to carry out what would be its seventh underground nuclear explosion at its test center in Punggye-ri (northeast of the country ).