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North Korea on Sunday launched a short-range ballistic missile toward the sea ramping up testing activities in response to ongoing US-South Korean military drills that it views as an invasion rehearsal.
According to South Korean and Japanese assessments, the missile launched from the North’s northwestern Tongchangri area flew across the country before it landed in the waters off its east coast.
They said the missile traveled a distance of about 800 kilometers (500 miles), a range that suggests the weapon could target South Korea.
The North’s continuation of missile tests showed its determination not to back down despite the US-South Korea exercises, which are the biggest of their kind in years. But many experts say the tests are also part of North Korea’s bigger objective to expand its weapons arsenal, win global recognition as a nuclear state and get international sanctions lifted, reports AP.
Bd-pratidin English/Golam Rosul
