Seoul: N. Korea Launches New Ballistic Missile

North Korea fired a new ballistic missile towards the East Sea on Wednesday, according to the South Korean military. The South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said that the missile was launched from an area in or around Pyongyang, explaining that it is currently conducting a detailed analysis of the launch process and its results. For its part, South Korean news agency (Yonhap) quoted a military source as saying that North Korea appears to have test-fired a hypersonic missile, but the test is believed to have ended in failure after the missile flew some 250 kilometers. The launch of the new missile came after North Korea slammed the arrival in South Korea of the US aircraft carrier USS Theodore and warned of taking "overwhelming and new deterrence" measures against what it described as a "provocative act". The US aircraft carrier arrived in the Busan region, 320 km southeast of Seoul, on Saturday to participate in a trilateral exercise with South Korea and Japan. The missile launch also came after Nor th Korea signed a comprehensive strategic partnership treaty with Russia during a summit last week between Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, which includes a pledge for the two countries to come to each other's aid if attacked. The last time North Korea launched multiple short-range ballistic missiles towards the East Sea was on May 30. Source: Qatar News Agency