North Korea fired an intermediate-range ballistic missile into the East Sea (Sea of Japan) on Sunday, South Korea’s military said, according to Yonhap News Agency. The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said it detected the missile, fired at a steep angle from Mupyong-ri in the northern province of Jagang, at 7:52 a.m. (2252 Saturday GMT), and it flew about 800 km at a top altitude of 2,000 km. Soon after the North’s seventh projectile launch this year, JCS Chairman Gen. Won In-choul and Gen. Paul LaCamera, the commander of the South Korea-US Combined Forces Korea, held phone talks and reaffirmed the allies’ “firm” defense posture, the JCS said. The JCS announced the launch in a text message sent to reporters. It did not elaborate. Pyongyang launched the largest monthly number of projectiles in January since North Korean leader Kim Jong-un took power in late 2011. It conducted six projectile launches in both March and July 2014. The North fired what it claims to be surface-to-surface tactical guided missiles Thursday, just two days after its apparent long-range cruise missile test. It conducted four other launches earlier this month, including those of what it claimed to be hypersonic missiles. Pyongyang has been ratcheting up tensions with a series of missile launches since the start of this year as Washington has stepped up sanctions pressure amid a protracted deadlock in nuclear talks between the two countries. The recent bouts of the North’s saber-rattling also came as it seeks to tighten up internal unity amid the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic and persistent economic woes stemming from debilitating sanctions. — Agencies