South panics as North Korea tests ballistic missile

South Korea was sent into panic mood, as Seoul raised alarm that North Korea has fired a ballistic missile on Wednesday. South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff cried out that North Korea fired the ballistic missile at 12.03pm (0303 GMT), likely from the Sunan Airfield, near Pyongyang, the site of previous recent ICBM tests.

The missile, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said, flew 470 km (300 miles) and reached an altitude of 780 km. the South protested that the missile test was a “blatant violation of UN Security Council resolutions.”

The State Minister of Defence in Japan, Makoto Oniki, confirming the launch and the missile’s trajectory, said that the missile landed “outside of Japan’s exclusive economic zone.”

South Korea national security council “strongly” condemned the missile launch, telling North Korea to “cease actions that pose a serious threat to the Korean Peninsula” and to return to dialogue.

The South maintained: North Korea’s “repeated launches of ballistic missiles threaten peace and safety of our nation, the region, and the international community.”

North Korean leader, Kim Jong Un, had last week threatened to launch pre-emptive missile strike and boost the country’s nuclear arsenal.

The North has carried out 14 missile tests since January, including an intercontinental ballistic missile at full range.