The South’s military said that North Korea launched two ballistic missiles into the sea on Sunday, the most recent in a string of launches that have taken place amid tensions over US-led military drills in the area, according to Yonhap. Without providing any other information, the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the South Korean military stated that the launch—the seventh in the past two weeks—came from the southeast of the nation. Following days of joint military drills between the South, Japan, and the United States, North Korea on Saturday defended its recent flurry of missile testing as a justifiable response to US military threats.
At least one of Sunday’s missiles was also acknowledged on Twitter by the office of the Japanese prime minister. According to Toshiro Ino, senior vice minister of defense for Japan, it is conceivable that the missiles, which he said were fired soon before 2:00 am (1700 GMT Saturday), traveled 350 kilometers at a maximum altitude of 100 kilometers, and were launched from submarines.
According to the Japanese authorities, the missiles that were launched toward the East Sea, also known as the Sea of Japan, appear to have landed outside of Japan’s exclusive economic zone. According to the coast guard, there have been no reports of damage to Japanese ships to date, according to national broadcaster NHK.
The Indo-Pacific Command of the US military claimed in a statement that it was “informed of the two ballistic missile launches” and that it was “working closely with our allies and partners.” The launch, according to the US military, demonstrates how “destabilizing” North Korea’s missile program is.
The launch on Sunday was the most recent in a string of activities that also included an intermediate-range ballistic missile fired over Japan on Tuesday, which led to a warning for residents of nearby impacted areas to seek shelter.
Additionally, North Korea launched two ballistic missiles on Thursday, the same day that Seoul, Tokyo, and Washington conducted new drills including a US navy ship from the strike group of the USS Ronald Reagan aircraft carrier.
In addition to conducting combined bombing and missile training, the United States redeployed the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier to waters east of South Korea as part of a comprehensive military response to Pyongyang’s Tuesday test.
According to Yonhap, the South Korean and American military drills came to an end on Saturday.
