North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles toward its eastern waters on Sunday, the latest of its recent barrage of weapons tests, a day after the North warned the redeployment of a US aircraft carrier near the Korean Peninsula was inflaming regional tensions.
South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement that it detected two missile launches Sunday between 1:48am and 1:58am (local time) from the North’s eastern coastal city of Munchon.
It added that South Korea’s military has boosted its surveillance posture and maintains a readiness in close coordination with the United States.
Japanese Vice Defence Minister Toshiro Ino also confirmed the launches, saying the North’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 analyse 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 it’s harder to detect such launches in advance. North Korea was believed to have last tested a missile launch from a submarine in May.
Ino said both missiles launched Sunday (local time) flew about 350 kilometres at a maximum attitude of 100 kilometres before they fell into the waters between the Korean Peninsula and Japan.
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida separately instructed officials to gather and analyse all information they could and expedite any updates about the tests to the public. 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 US Indo-Pacific Command said in a statement that the launches didn’t pose any immediate threat to US personnel or territory, or to its allies. But it said the launches highlight “the destabilising impact” of North Korea’s unlawful weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile programs. It said the US commitments to the defence of South Korea and Japan remain “ironclad.”
The launch, the North’s seventh round of weapons tests in two weeks, came hours after the United States and South Korea wrapped up a new round of two-day naval drills off the Korean Peninsula’s east coast.
The drills involved the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan and its battle group, which returned to the area after North Korea fired a powerful missile over Japan last week to protest the carrier group’s previous training with South Korea.
On Saturday (local time), North Korea’s Defence Ministry warned that the Reagan’s redeployment was causing a “considerably huge negative splash” in regional security. The North’s Defence Ministry called its recent missile tests a “righteous reaction” to intimidating military drills between South Korea and the United States.
North Korea regards US-South Korean military exercises as an invasion rehearsal and is especially sensitive if such drills involve US strategic assets such as an aircraft carrier.
North Korea has argued it was forced to pursue a nuclear weapons program to cope with US nuclear threats. US and South Korean officials have repeatedly said they have no intentions of attacking the North.
North Korea’s latest launches added to its record-breaking pace of weapons tests this year. The recent weapons tests included a nuclear-capable missile that flew over Japan for the first time in five years.
It was estimated to have travelled about 4500-4600 kilometres, a distance sufficient to reach the US Pacific territory of Guam and beyond.
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