On Friday, North Korea fired at least one apparent missile in its third weapons launch this month, just two days after the Biden administration imposed sanctions on the country for its test launches.
“South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said the weapon was fired toward the east but did not immediately say where it landed or provided other details,” The New York Post reported. “Japan’s Prime Minister’s Office and the Defense Ministry also said they detected the North Korean launch and said it was possibly a ballistic missile.”
“The Japanese coast guard issued a safety advisory, saying an object had possibly landed already. It urged vessels between the Korean Peninsula and Japan, as well as the East China Sea and the North Pacific, to ‘pay attention to further information and to keep clear when recognizing falling object,’” the outlet added.
On Wednesday, the Biden administration issued sanctions on five North Korean officials in response to missile tests.
“Today, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated five Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) individuals responsible for procuring goods for the DPRK’s weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and ballistic missile-related programs,” the Treasury Department announced Wednesday. “These actions are in line with U.S. efforts to prevent the advancement of the DPRK’s WMD and ballistic missile programs and impede attempts by Pyongyang to proliferate related technologies. They also follow the DPRK’s six ballistic missile launches since September 2021, each of which violated multiple United Nations Security Council Resolutions (UNSCRs).”
“Today’s actions, part of the United States’ ongoing efforts to counter the DPRK’s weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile programs, target its continued use of overseas representatives to illegally procure goods for weapons,” Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian E. Nelson said. “The DPRK’s latest missile launches are further evidence that it continues to advance prohibited programs despite the international community’s calls for diplomacy and denuclearization.”
