The DPRK conducted the first test launch of a short-range ballistic missile in 2024.

This was reported on the official website of the Ministry of Defense of Japan.

The test launch was carried out at 14:35 local time from the northeastern part of the country.

The ballistic missile reached an altitude of 50 km during the flight, flew about 500 km, and fell in the Sea of Japan off the east coast of the Korean Peninsula.

The missile fell outside Japan’s exclusive economic zone, the ministry said.

To provide enhanced missile defense, the Maritime Self-Defense Forces deployed several missile destroyers into the Japanese sea.

They should have ensured the destruction of a ballistic missile if its target was the territory of Japan.

In 2023, the DPRK increased the number of test launches. At the end of December 2023, it carried out 17 ballistic missile test launches, the last of which was recorded on December 17 and 18, 2023.

At the time, on December 18, 2023, the DPRK tested an intercontinental ballistic missile that was launched from Pyongyang.

The missile flew for approximately 73 minutes and fell outside the exclusive economic zone of Japan. The range was estimated at 1000 km, and the maximum altitude was over 6000 km.

Militarnyi previously reported that during the shelling on January 6, Russian troops once again launched several DPRK ballistic missiles at Ukrainian territory.

According to the United States, Russian troops used them during an air attack on Ukraine on December 30, and about ten North Korean missiles were fired on January 2 during shelling in Zaporizhzhia, Kyiv, Kharkiv, and other cities.