As the world’s eyes are on the Russian threat, Pyongyang is stirring again. North Korea has fired at least one “unidentified projectile”, the South Korean army announced on Saturday, which could be the ninth missile test by Kim Jong-un’s regime since the beginning of the year.
“North Korea launched an unidentified projectile eastward,” South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement, without providing further details.
Despite draconian international sanctions, Pyongyang carried out a record series of seven weapons tests in January, including its most powerful missile since 2017, before suspending firing during the Winter Olympics in Beijing.
Anniversary date April 15
On Monday, Pyongyang said it carried out a “high significance” test for the development of a reconnaissance satellite, a day after Seoul said it detected a ballistic missile launch. The North’s latest tryouts come at a delicate time in the region, with South Korea set to elect its next president on Wednesday.
Analysts believe Pyongyang could use the most important date on its political calendar, the 110th anniversary of its founder Kim Il Sung’s birth on April 15, to conduct a major weapons test.