North Korea has again launched a ballistic missile. The international community must step up pressure to stop the outflow of related materials and technology from Russia and China.
This is the seventh round of missile launches in January alone. The missile was launched at a high angle, putting it on a lofted trajectory difficult to intercept, and fell outside Japan's exclusive economic zone. It is estimated to have traveled about 800 kilometers.
North Korea announced that it was a test launch of a Hwasong-12 intermediate-range ballistic missile. This was the first Hwasong-12 missile launch since September 2017, when one passed over Hokkaido and fell into the Pacific Ocean. Unsurprisingly, the Japanese government strongly condemned the launch as "totally unacceptable."
