SEOUL: North Korea fired a suspected ballistic missile from an inland area toward the Sea of Japan around 7:27 a.m. Tuesday (10:27 p.m. Monday GMT), according to the South Korean military’s Joint Chiefs of Staff.

North Korea had launched a ballistic missile just on Wednesday, claiming that it succeeded in a hypersonic missile test.

The Japan Coast Guard confirmed Tuesday’s launch, saying that an object that may be a ballistic missile was fired from North Korea.

Japanese Defense Minister Nobuo Kishi said that the projectile “is presumed to have flown less than 700 kilometers and dropped outside the exclusive economic zone of our country if it took an ordinary ballistic trajectory.”

The latest launch is “extremely regrettable,” Japanese Prime Minister KISHIDA Fumio told reporters. He instructed his government to make its maximum effort to gather and analyze information and provide the public with accurate information speedily.

North Korea seems to be increasing missile-related activities again after conducting intensive missile tests between September and October last year.

South Korea’s Yonhap news agency said that the latest firing may have been an additional test of what North Korea claims to be its hypersonic missile.

Tuesday’s projectile was launched from around the northern province of Jagang, as was the missile fired Wednesday, according to Yonhap.

South Korea, in close cooperation with the United States, is monitoring the situation and maintaining its readiness to respond in case of an additional launch, the South Korean military said.

JIJI Press