North Korea fired two suspected ballistic missiles towards the Sea of Japan on Sunday, Japanese authorities announced.
"An object that may be a ballistic missile has been launched from North Korea", the Japanese Ministry of Defense (JMD) posted on X shortly after 2 a.m. EDT. Seven minutes later, the JMD "estimated that the object had already fallen".
The missile is estimated to have flown approximately 440km, reaching a maximum altitude of approximately 60km, Japanese Defense Minister Shinjirō Koizumi told reporters. The Joint Chiefs of Staff of the South Korean military confirmed this information.
The Japanese Coast Guard confirmed that no vessels had been damaged by the first missile, according to Japanese public broadcaster NHK.
Shortly after 5 a.m. EDT the Japanese Prime Minister's Office confirmed the launch of a second "suspected ballistic missile".
Following the second launch, Koizumi held another press briefing, telling reporters that this missile flew both further and higher than the first, "reach[ing] a maximum altitude of approximately 70 km, fl[ying] approximately 590 km".
No aircraft or ship was damaged by the weapon, Koizumi added.
Both missiles fell short of the Japanese exclusive economic zone (EEZ), a large maritime area surrounding the East Asian country in which Japan has exclusive sovereign rights to exploit and manage all natural resources. The area is about 12 times the size of Japan's landmass.
A foreign weapon landing inside the EEZ would likely have been seen by the Japanese authorities as a provocation.
However, the dual launch is starting to rekindle regional tensions regardless. South Korea has raised its security alert level, the Korea Herald has reported.
"Take all possible measures for precaution, including readiness for contingencies", the Japanese PM's Office also instructed on two separate occasions in response to the suspected missile launches.
Both South Korea and Japan are long-term adversaries of North Korea, a nuclear-armed state. However, both South Korea and Japan are U.S. allies and are protected by U.S. security commitments which extend to the use of American nuclear weapons in the event of an attack on either nation from North Korea.
Missiles were last launched from North Korea on September 12, when projectiles were also fired from the Wonsan area towards the Sea of Japan. However, they only reached some 250 kilometres. Koizumi claimed that this is the 9th instance of a ballistic missile launch by North Korea since the beginning of the year.
South Korea, the U.S. and Japan are said to be working in close coordination as the situation develops.
