Pyongyang test-fires suspected ballistic missiles

North Korea has ramped up its testing activity in the recent months with what it claimed to be “hypersonic” missile launches

Pyongyang has carried out another suspected missile launch, the South Korean military reported. The reclusive nation has stepped up its missile activity, already firing two “hypersonic” missiles in as many months.

Two alleged North Korean short-ranged ballistic missiles were launched towards the Sea of Japan, the South Korean military reported on Monday morning.

Seoul claimed that the projectiles were seemingly fired from a launch site at North Korea’s Pyongyang Sunan International Airport.

The Japanese Ministry of Defense also identified the projectiles as a “possible ballistic missile,” while the country’s Coast Guard warned vessels to look out for falling objects.

The reported missile test comes several days after Pyongyang claimed to have staged a drill involving two railway- born guided missiles that obliterated their intended targets in the Sea of Japan.

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In addition to this, North Korea has claimed to have already tested two “hypersonic missiles” since the start of the year, in January and in February, respectively.

The nation’s most recent “hypersonic missile” launch last Tuesday reportedly rattled nerves in the Pentagon, which thought that the missile was heading for the US and grounded a number of flights on the west coast as a precaution.

In wake of the test, the US sanctioned a number of North Koreans as well as a Russian national and a Russian firm, which Washington accused of helping Pyongyang to obtain “weapons of mass destruction or their means of delivery.”

Responding to the fresh penalties, North Korea vowed a “stronger and certain reaction” to the sanctions, arguing that the development of its hypersonic missile program was its “legitimate right.”