North Korea Launches Another Missile Test

Shortly after warning that their weapons are their "answer against the Trump administration", North Korea conducts a test fire of a medium-range ballistic missile. The South Korean military said the projectile achieved an altitude of 348 miles and landed in the Sea of Japan. According to officials, the missile was fired from Pukchang, which is located in the north of the country's capital, Pyongyang.

The missile was tracked by the US Pacific Command, the White House said and had "a shorter range than those launched in North Korea's three most recent tests." Newly elected South Korean president Moon Jae In held a meeting with National Security Council to discuss the recent launch test. His foreign ministry described the act, "reckless and irresponsible".

Seoul's Joint Chiefs of Staff released a statement, saying they were at "full military readiness" and were closely monitoring signs of further aggravation by the North Korean military.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinto Abe said that he will bring up the matter in next week's G8 Summit in Italy. Only earlier this month, North Korea launched a test for ballistic missile Hwasong-12, which is capable of carrying a nuclear warhead. The missile flew for about 30 minutes and traveled for about 800km before landing in the Sea of Japan, Tokyo said.

North Korean newspaper Minju Joson said on Sunday that this will not be the end of the missile launches, threatening there will be more. They said, "If the US persists in a confrontation with the DPRK (North Korea), the latter will show how the crime-woven history of the US is put to an end. Many more weapons capable of striking the US will be launched from this land. This is the DPRK's answer to the Trump administration."

North Korea has been known to be conducting several missile tests regularly, and the US fears that they are currently working to perfect the technology to make a nuclear-tipped weapon that will be powerful enough to reach the US mainland. The Hwasong-12 launch test was the 10th time this year alone.