After Announcing First Case Of COVID-19, North Korea Fires Three Ballistic Missiles

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un passes in front of the Hwasong-17 ICBM missile. (Source: KCNA)

JAKARTA - North Korea fired three ballistic missiles into the sea off its east coast on Thursday, South Korea said, after reporting its first official case of COVID-19 infection.

South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said three short-range ballistic missiles were fired from the Sunan area of the North Korean capital, Pyongyang, where an international airport is located and where North Korea said it fired its largest intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), the Hwasong-17, on Friday. March 24.

The missile flew about 360 kilometers (224 miles), reaching an altitude of 90 km and a maximum speed of Mach 5, the Joint Chiefs of Staff said.

The shooting was the first since the inauguration of South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol earlier this week, who has signaled a hard line against North Korea's weapons development.

The launch, North Korea's 16th known weapons test this year, also came hours after Pyongyang confirmed its first COVID-19 outbreak, declaring "the most severe national emergency" and ordering a nationwide lockdown.

Meanwhile, President Yoon's national security office issued a statement condemning the launch, saying it "deplores the duplicitous behavior" of firing ballistic missiles and ignoring the suffering of its people amid the COVID outbreak.

Separately, Japan's coast guard confirmed a ballistic missile launch by North Korea, citing its military. The projectile appeared to have fallen outside Japan's exclusive economic zone, public broadcaster NHK said.

In its last weapons test on Saturday last week, North Korea used submarine-launched ballistic missiles, which have been aggressively developed in recent years.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un pledged late last month to speed up his country's nuclear arsenal, amid stalled denuclearization talks with the United States.