North Korea likely to fire ballistic missile again

North Korea is believed to have fired another ballistic missile. The South Korean military reported “at least one unidentified projectile” on Saturday (local time). The projectile would have ended up in the sea east of the Korean peninsula. The Japanese coast guard also reports the possible missile test.

North Korea has already made eight launches this year, seven of them in January. The most recent missile test was on February 27.

The new launch comes shortly before the presidential election in South Korea on March 9. Leading conservative presidential candidate Yoon Suk-Yeol warned last month that North Korea could view the situation in Ukraine as “an opportunity to launch its own provocation”.