North Korea has fired at least one “unidentified ballistic missile”, the South Korean military said on Friday, hours after a denial by leader Kim Jong Un’s powerful sister of accusations that Pyongyang is shipping weapons to Russia.
North Korea “fired an unidentified ballistic missile towards the East Sea”, also called the Sea of Japan, said the Joint Chiefs of Staff in Seoul. According to Japanese public broadcaster NHK, citing government sources, the missile “appeared to be short-range and has already fallen.”
This missile launch took place a few hours after Kim Yo Jong, the sister of the North Korean leader, denied any arms deliveries to Moscow from Pyongyang. Kim Yo Jong said Pyongyang had “no intention of exporting its military technical capabilities to any country”, according to a statement published Friday by the official KCNA news agency.
Accused of supplying weapons to Russia
South Korea and the United States have repeatedly accused North Korea of supplying weapons to Russia while the latter two countries are subject to international sanctions: Russia for its invasion of Ukraine and Korea of the North for its nuclear program.
In April, Pyongyang thanked Moscow for using its Security Council veto to block the establishment of a new committee of experts to monitor the implementation of international sanctions targeting North Korea.