North Korea opens New Year with missile launch

By HYUNG-JIN KIM
Associated Press

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea fired a short-range ballistic missile toward its eastern waters Sunday, entering 2023 with another weapons test after an unprecedented number of missile firings last year. South Korea’s military detected the launch from the North’s capital region around 2:50 a.m., the Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement. It said the missile traveled about 400 kilometers 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.