North Korea fires missiles towards sea as Kim Jong Un continues tests

North Korea fires three ballistic missiles towards the sea as Kim Jong Un’s unprecedented year of tests draws to a close

• North Korea has fired three ballistic missiles towards the Korea Peninsula
• The missile testing took place today on New Year’s Eve, South Korea military said
• This is the latest in a series of unprecedented missile testing by North Korea

North Korea has fired three ballistic missiles toward the sea east of the Korean Peninsula.

The South Korean military announced the missile launches had taken place on Saturday, New Year’s Eve.

This was the latest in an unprecedented number of missile tests conducted by the North Korean regime this year.

This comes as Kim Jong Un unveiled new goals for North Korea’s military in 2023 as it is set to continue its intensive weapons development and testing. 

North Korea has fired three ballistic missiles toward the sea east of the Korean Peninsula. Kim Jong Un is pictured today at a meeting of his regime’s party, December 31

North Korea is set to continue its weapons development in 2023. Pictured: the test-firing of an intercontinental ballistic missile in Pyongyang in November 2022

The launches were the latest in an unprecedented number of missile tests conducted by North Korea this year, as Pyongyang presses on with weapons development amid further speculation that it could test a nuclear weapon for a seventh time.

The three, short-range ballistic missiles were fired starting around 8am local time (11pm GMT) from North Hwanghae Province, just south of the capital Pyongyang, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said.

Japan’s coast guard said North Korea fired what could be a ballistic missile and sent notice about a second possible missile. NHK reported that a second North Korean missile appeared to have landed outside Japan’s exclusive economic zone.

North Korea fired the missile the day after South Korea’s defense ministry announced it had successfully conducted a test flight of a solid-propellant space launch vehicle.

North Korean leader leader Kim Jong Un attends the 12th Meeting of the Political Bureau of the 8th Central Committee of the Workers’ Party of Korea (WPK), in Pyongyang, North Korea today

There has been an unprecedented number of missile tests (pictured December 19) conducted by North Korea this year, as Pyongyang presses on with weapons development amid further speculation that it could test a nuclear weapon for a seventh time. 

On Monday, five North Korean drones crossed into South Korea, prompting the South’s military to scramble fighter jets and attack helicopters to try to shoot them down, in the first such intrusion since 2017.

Relations between North Korea and U.S. ally South Korea have grown even more tense since South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol’s conservative government took over in May, promising a tougher stance toward the North.

Not counting Saturday’s launches, North Korea has fired around 70 ballistic missiles this year, Yonhap news agency said, including about eight intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM).

North Korean state media KCNA had yet to make any mention of the firing, but said on Saturday that leader Kim Jong Un had presided over a party meeting on Friday to decide policy and strategy for 2023. 

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