North Korea launches missile that can reach US bases

Seoul, January 14

North Korea fired a suspected intermediate-range ballistic missile into the sea on Sunday, South Korea's military said, two months after the North claimed to have tested engines for a new harder-to-detect missile capable of striking distant US targets in the region. The missile is mainly designed to hit US military bases in the United States Pacific territory of Guam.

The launch was the North's first this year. Experts say North Korea could ramp up its provocative missile tests as a way to influence the results of South Korea's parliamentary elections in April and the US presidential election in November. South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said the missile flew about 1,000 km before landing in the waters between the Korean Peninsula and Japan. The Joint Chiefs of Staff called the launch a provocation that poses a serious threat to peace on the Korean Peninsula. — AP

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