North Korea fires a ballistic missile toward sea, South Korea says

South Korea says North Korea has fired a ballistic missile toward the North’s east coast

South Korea Koreas Tensions (Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

North Korea fired a ballistic missile toward its eastern waters on Wednesday, South Korea's military said, in an apparent protest of the deployment of a U.S. aircraft carrier for a new trilateral military drill including the United States, South Korea and Japan.

The North's reported launch also came hours after South Korea said North Korea floated huge balloons likely carrying trash across the border for a second consecutive day. South Korea's earlier threatened to retaliate with anti-Pyongyang front-line propaganda broadcasts.

South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement the North's missile launch was made Wednesday morning but did not elaborate.

Japan's Defense Ministry also said that North Korea launched a suspected ballistic missile but gave no further details.

The USS Theodore Roosevelt arrived in South Korea on Saturday and South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol boarded the carrier on Tuesday — the first sitting South Korean president to board a U.S. aircraft carrier since 1994.

Yoon told American and South Korean troops their countries’ alliance is the world’s greatest and can defeat any enemy. He said the U.S. carrier is to leave Wednesday for the South Korea-U.S.-Japan drill, dubbed “Freedom Edge.” The training is aimed at sharpening the countries’ combined response in various areas of operation, including air, sea and cyberspace.

North Korea’s vice defense minister, Kim Kang Il, on Monday called the U.S. aircraft carrier’s deployment “reckless” and “dangerous.” North Korea has previously called major U.S.-South Korean drills invasion rehearsals and reacted with missile tests.

South Korean officials said the carrier’s arrival is meant to help Seoul cope with North Korea’s nuclear threats and its advancing military partnerships with Russia.