SEOUL
North Korea test-fired a short-range missile into open water Monday morning that landed around 220 kilometers off its east coast, according to South Korea’s military.
The South’s Joint Chiefs of Staff noted the launch’s location, reportedly in the same region as an underground base for Scud missiles.
“It is the first time that Pyongyang fired a short-range projectile from [Chagang] province, just 60 kilometers away from its border with China,” a JCS officer told Yonhap News Agency.
While South Korea “is analyzing what type of missile the North launched and what lies behind its test-firing,” the officer also confirmed that the projectile is suspected to have been a tactical ballistic missile.
North Korea is barred from employing ballistic missile technology by United Nations Security Council resolutions – but Monday’s 10:30 a.m. test was the reclusive state’s 18th using missiles or rockets this year.
Earlier in the day, South Korea dismissed claims that it may review its sanctions against the North in an attempt to improve relations between the two sides, who are technically at war as no peace treaty was signed after their 1950-53 conflict.
“There is no change in the government’s basic position,” said Unification Ministry Spokesperson Lim Byeong-cheol at a media briefing, referring to economic sanctions imposed after the sinking of a South Korean warship in 2010.
Despite a deadlock in inter-Korean relations, the North maintained its sports diplomacy over the weekend.
Pyongyang welcomed pro-wrestlers and media from around the world, including the United States and Japan, in a spectacle reminiscent of former basketball star Dennis Rodman’s visits to North Korea last year.
American two-time Grammy-winning rapper Pras Michel was among the attendees – though his trip was a source of further bemusement for locals when he did the widely-popular ALS Ice Bucket Challenge along Pyongyang’s Taedong River.
“The people have been good to us,” Michel said while continuing the tradition of being filmed announcing his own nominees to take on the challenge next.
It is now over to the United Kingdom’s Prince Harry to continue the chain after its unexpected detour in North Korea.
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