North Korea fires apparent ballistic missile into Sea of Japan as landmine row deepens

North Korea fired off at least one apparent ballistic missile on Saturday morning, The Japan Times reported, amid a row between the two Koreas over a landmine explosion that injured three South Korean soldiers in the Demilitarized Zone last month.

Tokyo’s Defense Ministry said it had detected the launch of at least one missile, adding that it had splashed down several minutes later outside Japan’s exclusive economic zone, which extends 200 nautical miles (370 kilometres) from its shores.

South Korea’s military also said the North had fired “an unidentified projectile” toward the Sea of Japan.

A day earlier, Pyongyang rejected as “groundless” Seoul’s accusation that North Korean mines had wounded the South Korean soldiers, dismissing the South’s demand for an apology, the North’s official Korean Central News Agency said.

Kim Yo Jong, the sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, said Pyongyang had not deliberately planted mines in the border zone, adding that the incident had reinforced the view that there would be no contact between the two Koreas despite South Korean President Lee Jae Myung’s “desperate efforts to create a space for communication.”

“We will never allow the slightest space or margin for any contact between the DPRK and the ROK nor stand face to face with them in any case,” she added.

The nuclear-armed North last tested two missiles on September 20, later saying that at least one of the launches had been of “a new-type weapon” — an apparent hypersonic missile and glide vehicle.