North Korea has fired multiple short-range ballistic missiles off its east coast, according to South Korea and Japan.
The launches took place at about 7:10am on Thursday (22:10 GMT, Wednesday), days after North Korean leader Kim Jong Un promised to put his nuclear force fully ready for battle with its rivals.
South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said it detected the missiles launched from North Korea’s capital, Pyongyang, flying 360km (220 miles) before landing in the waters between the Korean Peninsula and Japan.
“We strongly condemn North Korea’s missile launch which is a clear provocation that seriously threatens peace and stability on the Korean peninsula,” it said in a statement.
South Korea did not elaborate on the number of missiles, but Japan’s Ministry of Defence said at least two ballistic missiles were fired.
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida instructed officials to ensure the safety of ships and aircraft. There were no reports of damage.
The nuclear envoys of South Korea, Japan and the United States talked by phone and called the launch a violation of United Nations resolutions, Seoul’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement. They also pledged to respond to any North Korean provocations.
The US Indo-Pacific Command reaffirmed that Washington’s security commitment to South Korea and Japan remains “ironclad”.
Previous incident
The launches were North Korea’s first public weapons firing activities in more than two months.
On July 1, North Korea claimed to have tested a new tactical weapon capable of delivering a “superlarge” 4.5-tonne-class warhead.
In a speech on Monday marking North Korea’s 76th foundation anniversary, Kim said he would redouble efforts to make his nuclear force fully ready for combat with the US and its allies.
He said North Korea faces “a grave threat” because of what he called “the reckless expansion” of a US-led regional military bloc.
Kim has made similar pledges numerous times, but his latest threat came as outside experts believe North Korea could carry out a nuclear test explosion or long-range missile test launches ahead of the US presidential election in November to boost its leverage in future dealings with Washington.
Thursday’s launches also came after North Korea flew hundreds of huge balloons carrying rubbish towards South Korea for five straight days through Sunday.
