According to South Korean and Japanese military officials, Pyongyang launched two short-range ballistic missiles toward its eastern waters on Thursday. According to reports, the rockets failed to reach land and crashed into the sea in Japan’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).
The Joint Chiefs of Staff of South Korea said it detected the launches on Thursday evening and that the South Korean military has since increased its observation posture and readiness in close coordination with the US.
The launch was also confirmed by Japan’s Defense Ministry, which added that the country’s Coast Guard had warned vessels in the waterways between the Korean Peninsula and Japan, as well as the North Pacific seas, to avoid falling items.
Kimi Onoda, Parliamentary Vice Minister of Defense, told reporters that the North Korean missiles went approximately 850 and 900 kilometers before crashing into the sea about 250 kilometers (155 miles) northwest of Ishikawa’s Hegura Island. He observed that there were no early reports of ship or aircraft damage as a result of the launch.
Onoda called the act “absolutely unacceptable,” while Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said it was “an escalation of provocations against the international community as a whole.” The prime minister also stated that Japan would continue to watch the situation in close collaboration with the United States and South Korea.
The missile launch on Thursday came only hours after Seoul and Washington completed a sixth round of combined large-scale live-fire drills near the North Korean border. President Yoon Suk-yeol of South Korea personally oversaw the exercises, which his administration described as “the largest live-fire drills ever held with the United States.”
According to the Yonhap news agency, 2,500 troops participated in the maneuvers, which were staged to simulate a North Korean provocation. The drills centered on responding to Pyongyang’s nuclear and missile threats, repelling a potential attack, and waging a counteroffensive.
Pyongyang issued a statement shortly before launching the ballistic missiles, criticizing the US-South Korean maneuvers and accusing its neighbor of rehearsing an invasion.
“Our army strongly condemns the provocative and irresponsible moves of the puppet military authorities, which are escalating military tensions in the region despite repeated warnings,” a spokesman for the North Korean Defense Ministry said, according to state media. “Our armed forces will fully counter any form of demonstrative moves and provocation by the enemies.”
