North Korea launched a ballistic missile on Monday January 6 towards the Sea of Japan, also called the East Sea, announced the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff, the day of the visit to Seoul of US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken.
This is the first missile test by North Korea this year. The last shots, a salvo of short-range ballistic missiles, took place on November 6, a few hours before the presidential election in the United States. The previous week, North Korea tested what it said was its new solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missile, the most advanced in its arsenal.
The Japanese Defense Ministry also announced on X that it had detected a missile launch from North Korea.
This shot comes on the day Mr. Blinken makes a farewell tour to Seoul and Tokyo before Donald Trump arrives at the White House.
It also comes at a time when South Korea is plunged into one of the worst political crises in its history, after the failed proclamation of martial law by President Yoon Suk Yeol, who was subsequently impeached and is threatened with arrest.
