North Korea fires 'ballistic missile' into sea in eighth launch this year

North Korea has fired what is suspected to be a ballistic missile into sea while the eyes of the rest of the world are focused on Russian President Vladimir Putin’s attack on Ukraine.

South Korean officials said they detected the launch from the Pyongyang area and expressed ‘deep concerns and grave regret’ over it.

If confirmed, this would be the East Asian country’s eighth launch of its kind this year and the first since January 30, after its government paused weapons tests during the Beijing Olympics in February.

Some experts have said it is trying to perfect its weapons technology and pressure the United States into offering concessions like sanctions relief amid long-stalled disarmament talks. 

Japan’s defense minister Nobuo Kishi said the missile may have flown as high as 600 km, to a range of 300 km.

No damage to vessels or aircraft has been reported though, he said.

He told reporters: ‘If North Korea deliberately carried out the missile launch while the international community is distracted by the Russian invasion of Ukraine, such an act is absolutely unforgivable.

‘Whatever the motives are, North Korea’s repeated missile launches are absolutely inexcusable and we cannot overlook considerable missile and nuclear advancement.’

During an emergency national security council meeting, top South Korean officials discussed the timing of the launch, amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

‘It is not desirable at all for peace and stability in the world and on the Korean Peninsula’, the presidential Blue House said.

North Korea has stirred up some international tension this year over a series of ballistic missile tests, which have long been banned by the United Nations (UN) Security Council.

Earlier this month, Kim Jong-un’s regime claimed the country is the only one that can ‘shake the world by firing a missile with the U.S. mainland in its range’.

The latest test comes just a day after North Korea made its first response to the war in Ukraine in the form of an article by a government analyst.

It expressed support for Russia and accused Washington of ‘arrogance’ and ‘double standards’.

In a post published on the website of the foreign ministry, Ri Ji Song, a researcher at a North Korean state-run institute on international politics, said: ‘The basic cause of the Ukraine incident lies in the high-handedness and arbitrariness of the United States, which has ignored Russia’s legitimate calls for security guarantees and only sought a global hegemony and military dominance while clinging to its sanctions campaigns.’

The former Soviet Union was North Korea’s biggest aid provider before its disintegration in the early 1990s and Putin has been pushing to restore his country’s ties in recent years.

Leif-Eric Easley, a professor at Ewha University in Seoul, said the Biden administration needs to show that it maintains a strategic focus on the Indo-Pacific region, including by responding sternly to Pyongyang’s provocations.

He said: ‘North Korea is not going to do anyone the favour of staying quiet while the world deals with Russia’s aggression against Ukraine.’

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