Pyongyang keeps mum over missile test

SEOUL: North Korean media made no mention yesterday of a suspected firing of a submarine-launched ballistic missile the previous day, amid growing speculation that the country may carry out a nuclear test in the near future.

Pyongyang has also not commented about a weapon test since South Korea and Japan said the nuclear-armed nation fired a ballistic missile on Wednesday. North Korea’s state-run media usually reports on weapons tests the day after they are carried out.

North Korea is likely to launch more ballistic missiles and could conduct its seventh nuclear test as South Korean President-elect Yoon Suk Yeol takes office tomorrow, foreign affairs experts said.

Pyongyang, which has urged the United States to drop its “hostile policy”, also might step up military provocations on the occasion of US President Joe Biden’s visit to South Korea and Japan for five days from May 20, the experts added.

South Korea and Japan said the North fired a ballistic missile on Saturday that was likely launched from a submarine into the sea off its eastern coast.

The missile is believed to have flown around 600 kilometers and up to an altitude of about 50km before landing outside Japan’s exclusive economic zone.

Last Wednesday, Tokyo said Pyongyang fired a ballistic missile eastward into the Sea of Japan.

Since January, North Korea has tested a barrage of missiles in defiance of UN Security Council resolutions imposing economic sanctions on the country.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un recently reiterated his intention to “preemptively” use the nation’s nuclear weapons if the country’s sovereignty is threatened by what it regards as “hostile forces”.