North Korea yesterday fired two short-range ballistic missiles toward its eastern waters, the latest of a recent barrage of weapons tests, a day after it warned that the redeployment of a US aircraft carrier near the Korean Peninsula was inflaming regional tensions.
The South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement that it detected two missile launches between 1:48am and 1:58am from the eastern coastal city of Munchon.
It added that the South Korean military has boosted its surveillance posture and maintains readiness in close coordination with the US.
Photo: AFP
Japanese Vice Minister of Defense Toshiro Ino also confirmed the launches, saying that Pyongyang’s testing activities are “absolutely unacceptable” as they threaten regional and international peace and security.
Ino said the weapons could be submarine-launched ballistic missiles.
“We are continuing to analyze details of the missiles, including a possibility that they might have been launched from the sea,” Ino said.
North Korea’s pursuit of an ability to fire missiles from a submarine would constitute an alarming development for its rivals because such launches are harder to detect in advance. North Korea was believed to have last tested a missile launch from a submarine in May.
The South Korean and Japanese militaries assessed that the missiles flew about 350km and reached maximum altitudes of 90km to 100km before falling into the waters between the Korean Peninsula and Japan.
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida separately instructed officials to gather and analyze all information they could and expedite any public updates about the tests. His office said it also was seeking to ensure the safety of all aircraft and ships in waters around Japan, while preparing for any contingencies.
The South Korean Presidential Office said that South Korean National Security Office Director Kim Sung-han called an emergency security meeting over the launches, in which members reviewed the South’s defense preparedness and discussed ways to enhance cooperation with the US and Japan to counter the growing North Korean threats.
Seoul warned that Pyongyang’s consecutive provocations would deepen its international isolation and increase the “instability of the regime” by worsening its economy and people’s livelihoods.
The US Indo-Pacific Command said in a statement that the launches did not pose any immediate threat to US personnel or territory, or to its allies.
However, the launches highlight “the destabilizing impact” of North Korea’s unlawful weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile programs, it added.
It said that US commitments to the defense of South Korea and Japan remain “ironclad.”
The launch was North Korea’s seventh round of weapons tests in two weeks.
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