North Korea on Sunday fired a pair of short-range ballistic missiles off its east coast, which has been confirmed by South Korea’s military, two days after Pyongyang resumed banned testing activities with an intercontinental ballistic missile launch.
South Korea’s military said it ‘strongly’ condemned the two launches as an act of ‘significant provocation’. They took place from a western coastal town just north of the North Korean capital on Monday morning, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement.
North Korea’s state media revealed that two projectiles were fired from a multiple rocket launcher, aiming at targets 395km (245 miles) and 337km (209 miles) away, respectively.
‘The 600mm multiple rocket launcher mobilised in the firing … is a means of tactical nuclear weapon,’ capable of ‘paralysing’ an enemy airfield, state news agency KCNA said.
Africa Today News, New York reports that Japan also detected the launches, saying two ballistic missiles were fired at about 7am local time on Monday. The missiles reached an altitude of approximately 100km (62 miles) and 50km (31 miles) and travelled between 350km (217 miles) and 400km (249 miles) before falling outside Japan’s exclusive economic zone.
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There were no reports of damage to aircraft or vessels.
In a statement, the ministry said it would continue to gather and analyse information in close cooperation with the United States.
‘North Korea’s series of actions, including its repeated ballistic missile launches, threaten the peace and security of Japan, the region, and the international community,’ the ministry said. ‘Japan lodged a strong protest and forcefully condemned North Korea.’
South Korea’s foreign ministry announced new sanctions targeting four individuals and five entities, including a South African national and two Singaporean shipping firms following Monday’s launches.
United Nations spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said UN chief Antonio Guterres ‘strongly’ condemned the latest launches and urged Pyongyang to “immediately desist from taking any further provocative actions”, and resume denuclearisation dialogue.
Pyongyang’s second launch in 48 hours came as Kim Jong Un’s powerful sister, Kim Yo Jong, issued a warning early on Monday against any increased US presence on the Korean peninsula.