South Korea Detects Heavy Distance Ballistic Missile Launch By North Korea

Illustration of North Korean missile launch. (Source: KCNA)

JAKARTA - North Korea fired a mid-range ballistic missile into the East Sea on Monday, the South Korean military said, the Pyongyang regime's first missile launch this year.

The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said it detected a projectile launch, suspected of being a medium-range ballistic missile, at around 12 noon from the Pyongyang region without providing further details.

"In preparation for additional launches, our military has strengthened our monitoring and vigilance while sharing information about North Korean missiles with the US and Japan and maintaining a full alert stance," the JCS said.

The launch comes as US Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited Seoul to negotiate with his Seoul partners about efforts to prevent Pyongyang's threat, amid political turmoil in the Ginseng Country over a political chaos sparked by President Yoon Suk-yeol's imposition of martial law last December 3.

The latest threat also comes two weeks before US President-elect Donald Trump takes office on January 20.

North Korea last fired several short-range ballistic missiles into the East Sea on November 5, just before the US Presidential election.

In a year-end party meeting, North Korea said it would implement a "heavyest" countermeasure against the United States, claiming military cooperation between South Korea, the US and Japan has grown into a "military bloc for aggression."