MADRID, 6 (EUROPA PRESS)
North Korea launched its first ballistic missile of the year this Monday, two months after the last recorded launches, as reported by the South Korean and Japanese authorities, amid the continuous escalation of tensions that the Korean peninsula has been experiencing for months.
The first information being considered by the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) indicates that it is an intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM), launched around midnight (local time), from a silo in the Pyongyang region, which flew about 1,100 kilometers before falling into the sea.
The South Korean Army also suspects that it could be a hypersonic projectile, similar to the one that North Korea launched in January and April 2024.
For its part, the Japanese Ministry of Defense has estimated that the possible North Korean missile fell at around 12:12 p.m. (local time, 4:12 a.m. Spanish peninsular time) outside the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of Japan. In addition, the Government has convened an emergency team to collect information and confirm whether damage has been reported.
This launch takes place two weeks before US President-elect Donald Trump takes office on January 20. It is worth mentioning that the last launches were on November 5, the date on which the US presidential elections were held.
Relations between the two Koreas are at their lowest point in years due to increased ballistic tests by Pyongyang, which violate sanctions imposed by the United Nations, and closer military cooperation between Seoul and the United States.