SEOUL– North Korea fired an unspecified ballistic missile into the East Sea on Wednesday, ratcheting up tensions amid an ongoing South Korea-U.S. naval exercise involving an American aircraft carrier.
The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) announced the launch, which came just three days after the North fired off a short-range ballistic missile (SRBM) into the East Sea. It did not provide other details, pending an analysis.
The latest saber-rattling came as U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris plans to visit Seoul on Thursday and the allies’ Navies are staging an exercise featuring the nuclear-powered USS Ronald Reagan carrier in the East Sea.
The U.S. carrier, a centerpiece of America’s naval might, arrived here on Friday for the first allied exercise near the peninsula in five years. The four-day exercise is set to run through Thursday.
The allies have been cranking up security coordination amid concerns that the recalcitrant regime would engage in provocative acts like a nuclear test or a submarine-launched ballistic missile launch.
Source: Yonhap News Agency