North Korea fires ballistic missile as South, US step up deterrence

Seoul, Dec 17: North Korea on Sunday fired a ballistic missile toward its eastern waters, South Korea said, in a possible display of defiance against the latest steps by Washington and Seoul to tighten their nuclear deterrence plans against North Korean threats.
South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said the missile was fired from an area near the North Korean capital of Pyongyang at around 10:38 p.m. and that it presumes the weapon to be short-range.
It said the South Korean military was sharing the launch information with the United States and Japan while maintaining readiness against the possibility of further North Korean military activities.
Tensions on the Korean Peninsula are at their highest in years, with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un accelerating the expansion of his nuclear and missile programme, and flaunting an escalatory nuclear doctrine that authorises the preemptive use of nuclear weapons.
The United States, South Korea and Japan have responded by increasing the visibility of their trilateral partnership in the region, and strengthening their combined military exercises, which Kim condemns as invasion rehearsals.
North Korea’s latest launch followed high-level security talks between American and South Korean officials in Washington over the weekend, where they agreed on plans to update their nuclear deterrence and contingency strategies. (AP)