By Joyce Lee and Heejin Kim
SEOUL, Aug 6 (Reuters) – North Korea fired a short-range ballistic missile on Thursday toward the sea east of the Korean Peninsula, South Korea’s military said, marking the latest in a series of weapons tests this year.
Japan’s government said Pyongyang launched what could be a ballistic missile.
The launch followed a series of tests this year, including short-range ballistic missiles, artillery rockets and other tactical weapons designed to bolster the isolated state’s military capabilities.
The most recent confirmed weapons test, in late June, involved an upgraded 240-mm multiple-launch rocket system, tactical ballistic missiles and a 155-mm self-propelled howitzer, North Korean state media KCNA said.
The South Korean military said in a statement that it had heightened its alert for further firings, closely sharing information with the United States and Japan.
The missile test could be related to recent criticism by Kim Yo Jong, the powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, of Japan’s firing of Tomahawk missiles and its military ambitions, according to Lim Eul-chul, a professor at Kyungnam University’s Institute for Far Eastern Studies.
It also came ahead of South Korean-U.S. joint military drills expected to be held soon, Lim added.
(Reporting by Joyce Lee and Heejin Kim, editing by Andrei KhalipEditing by Ed Davies)
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