North Korea opens New Year with missile launch

North Korea fired a short-range ballistic missile toward its eastern waters Sunday, entering 2023 with another weapons test after a record number of missile firings last year.

South Korea's military detected the launch from the North's capital region around 2:50 a.m. Sunday, the Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement. It said the missile travelled about 400 kilometers (250 miles) before falling into the waters between the Korean Peninsula and Japan.

The Joint Chiefs of Staff called the launch a grave provocation that hurts peace and security on the Korean Peninsula and around the world. It said South Korea closely monitors North Korean moves in coordination with the United States and maintains a readiness to deal with any provocations.

The U.S. Indo-Pacific Command said in a statement that the launch highlights the destabilising impact of North Korea's unlawful weapons programs. It said U.S. commitments to the defense of South Korea and Japan remain ironclad.

North Korea test-fired more than 70 missiles last year. Some experts say the country eventually aims to boost its weapons arsenals and increase greater pressures on its rivals to win concessions such as sanctions relief. 

On Saturday, North Korea fired three short-range ballistic missiles toward the country's eastern water.

The North's missile launch for a second straight day could be a response to rival South Korea's recent rocket test related to its plan to establish a space-based surveillance to better monitor North Korea. On Friday, South Korea's military said it test-launched a solid-fueled rocket, a type of a space launch vehicle that it plans to use to put its first spy satellite into orbit in coming years. 

Animosities between the rival Koreas have deepened since early last week, when South Korea accused North Korea of flying drones across the countries' heavily fortified border for the first time in five years and sent its own drones toward the North. 

South Korea acknowledged it failed to shoot down any of the five North Korean drones it said were found south of the border. But South Korea has vowed to bolster its air defense network and get tough on future provocations by North Korea.