North Korea fired an apparent intermediate-range missile off its east coast on Sunday, South Korea said, as tensions run high after Pyongyang’s recent launches of an intercontinental ballistic missile and its first military spy satellite.
A projectile believed to be the missile has fallen, according to the Japanese coast guard, which said it could be a ballistic missile. It appeared to have fallen outside Japan’s exclusive economic zone, public broadcaster NHK said.
The missile was fired from the area of Pyongyang around 2.55pm, South Korea’s military said, adding that Seoul was running an analysis on the missile in coordination with the US and Japan.
North Korea has been stepping up pressure on Seoul in recent weeks, declaring it the “principal enemy”, saying the North will never reunite with the South and vowing to enhance its ability to deliver a nuclear strike on the US and America’s allies in the Pacific.
Pyongyang’s isolated government is forging closer ties with Moscow. Foreign minister Choe Son Hui will visit Russia from Monday to Wednesday at the invitation of her counterpart Sergei Lavrov, KCNA news agency said on Sunday.
The US and its allies have condemned what they described as Russia’s firing of North Korean missiles at Ukraine, with Washington calling it abhorrent and Seoul calling Ukraine a test site for Pyongyang’s nuclear-capable missiles.
Moscow and Pyongyang have denied conducting any arms deals but vowed last year to deepen military relations.
Volcano erupts in Iceland
Reykjavík: A volcano erupted in southwest Iceland on Sunday, posing an immediate threat to a nearby small fishing town although it had been evacuated earlier and no people were in danger, authorities said.
Early-morning video footage from the site showed fountains of molten rock spewing from fissures in the ground, the bright orange lava flow glowing against the dark sky.
“No lives are in danger, although infrastructure may be under threat,” Iceland’s President Gudni Johannesson said on X, adding there had been no interruptions to flights.
Reuters
