People watch a television screen at a railway station in Seoul showing a news broadcast with file footage of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, on January 20, 2022. North Korea fired what could be a ballistic missile, Japan’s coast guard said on Feb. 27, 2022.
Jung Yeon-je | AFP | Getty Images
North Korea fired what could be a ballistic missile, Japan’s coast guard said on Sunday, in what would be the first test since the nuclear-armed country conducted a record number of launches in January.
South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff also reported that North Korea had fired at least one “unidentified projectile” eastward, without elaborating.
Sunday’s launch came less than two weeks ahead of a pivotal March 9 presidential election in South Korea, amid fears by some in Seoul that North Korea may push ahead with missile development while international attention is focused on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The leading conservative candidate, Yoon Suk-Yeol, warned last…