SEOUL (AP) – North Korea fired multiple short-range ballistic missiles toward its eastern waters yesterday morning, its neighbours said, days after the end of the South Korean-United States (US) military drills that the North views as an invasion rehearsal. The launches – North Korea’s first known missile testing activities in about a month – came as US Secretary of State Antony Blinken was in Seoul for a democracy summit.
Outside experts earlier predicted North Korea would extend its run of missile tests and intensify its warlike rhetoric ahead of the US presidential election in November to boost its leverage in future diplomacy.
Japan’s Defence Ministry said North Korea fired three missiles, two together at 7.44am and the other about 37 minutes later.
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida told a Parliamentary session that the North Korean missiles landed in the waters between the Korean Peninsula and Japan, all outside of Japan’s exclusive economic zone, and that no damage or injuries have been reported.
Kishida denounced North Korea’s repeated ballistic missile tests as acts “that threaten the peace and safety of Japan, the region and the international society”.
He said Japan strongly protested against North Korea over its testing activities, saying they violated United Nations Security Council resolutions that ban the North from engaging in any ballistic activities.
South Korea’s military said it also detected “several” suspected short-range ballistic launches by North Korea yesterday morning.
The Joint Chiefs of Staff called the launches “clear provocation” that threaten peace on the Korean Peninsula. It said South Korea will maintain readiness to repel any provocation by North Korea, based on its solid military alliance with the US.
According to Japanese and South Korean assessments, the North Korean missiles fired from its capital region travelled a distance of 300-350 kilometres (km) and reached a maximum altitude of 50km. Observers said the missiles’ fight distances indicate they are weapons targeting major facilities in South Korea, such as its military headquarters in the central region.
The US State Department condemned the launches, saying they pose a threat to the North’s neighbours and undermine regional security. A State Department statement said the US commitment to the defence of South Korea and Japan remain “ironclad”.
