North Korea fired what appears to be an intermediate-range ballistic missile toward the sea in the east, the South Korean military said, in what is Pyongyang’s first missile launch in two months .
The Japanese Defense Ministry said around noon local time (0300 GMT) that the projectile had already fallen into the sea.
The launch comes as US Secretary of State Antony Blinken heads to Seoul for talks with some of South Korea’s top leaders.
Earlier Monday, Blinken met with Acting President Choi Sang-mok, where he described the alliance between Washington and Seoul as “the cornerstone of peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula.”
South Korea’s military says it has increased monitoring of the North’s future missile launches and is “closely sharing information” about today’s launch with the United States and Japan.
Today’s launch also comes amid political chaos in South Korea, which has plagued the country for weeks following the suspension of President Yoon Suk Yeol’s short-lived attempt at martial law in December.
Yoon, who was stripped of his presidential powers after lawmakers voted to impeach him, now faces arrest. The Constitutional Court is also considering whether he should be removed from office.
Pyongyang had previously mocked Yoon’s shock declaration of martial law as a “senseless act” and accused Yoon of “brazenly brandishing the blades and guns of the fascist dictatorship against his own people.”
The international community considers North Korean leader Kim Jong Un a dictator. Kim’s family has ruled the hermit nation for decades by developing and promoting a cult of personality.
The last time Pyongyang fired missiles was in November, a day before the U.S. presidential election, when it launched at least seven short-range ballistic missiles off its east coast.
Earlier in the week, the United States flew a long-range bomber during trilateral military exercises with South Korea and Japan in a show of power, drawing condemnation from Kim’s sister, Kim Yo Jong .
