North Korea resumes weapon test, fires ballistic missile

North Korea has resumed tests of its weapons in the Korean peninsula, as South Korea raised fresh alarm that North Korea fired a ballistic missile on Sunday. The missile test was resumed as crisis rages over the invasion of Ukraine by Russia last Thursday.

It was observed that the Sunday test is the eighth long-range missile and nuclear weapons test in 2022 by North Korea.

There has been fear that North Korea may rise from its axis with resumed missile tests as the US and other global forces are focusing on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last Thursday. Similar fear was expressed about China over the South Sea dispute with Taiwan.

The military in South Korea on Sunday raised a red alert over detection of a ballistic missile fired towards the Sea of Japan at 07.52 local time (2252 GMT on Saturday) from North Korea. According to the South Korea military, “The latest ballistic missile has a range of around 300 kilometres and an altitude of around 620 kilometres.”

South Korea, therefore, expressed “deep concern and grave regret”, criticizing the timing of the missile test “when the world is making efforts to resolve the Ukraine war”.

Japan also acknowledged the test of a ballistic missile off its coast by North Korea on Sunday morning.

North Korea on Saturday chided the U.S. for being the “root cause of the Ukraine crisis”. North Korea in a statement on the Foreign Ministry website, declared that Washington “meddled” in the internal affairs of other countries when it suited them but condemned legitimate “self-defensive measures”.

South Korea, an ally of the US, had indicated it would join the U.S. and other countries in imposing sanctions on Russia over the invasion of Ukraine.