SEOUL, Sept 20 (Reuters) – North Korea launched two missiles off its eastern coast on Sunday, its second set of tests in roughly a week and days after Pyongyang accused the US of driving tensions on the Korean Peninsula through a series of military drills.
Just three hours after launching a short-range ballistic missile (SRBM) toward the East Sea on Sunday afternoon, North Korea fired another short-range ballistic missile, according to South Korea’s defence ministry.
If the subsequent launch is confirmed to be a ballistic missile, it will mark two consecutive ballistic missile tests by North Korea within a three-hour window.
South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said it detected the first test firing from the Wonsan area around 3 p.m. (0600 GMT), identifying the weapon as a ballistic missile. Japan’s defence ministry also said it appeared to be a ballistic missile.
Japanese public broadcaster NHK said the projectile had come down outside Japan’s exclusive economic zone.
The first projectile flew approximately 450 km (280 miles) and is presumed to belong to the Hwasong-11 series, according to South Korea’s military. The second short-range missile, which was also fired from Wonsan at about 5:50 p.m. (0850 GMT), flew more than 600 km (373 miles), it said.
“South Korean and US intelligence authorities have been tracking and sharing related developments from the initial stage of the launch, and have also shared information regarding the ‘North Korean ballistic missile’ with Japan,” the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff said.
South Korea’s National Security Council condemned the short-range missile launch, which follows a test on September 12. The council urged Pyongyang to immediately cease missile activity, warning the test directly violated UN Security Council resolutions.
Japan also lodged a protest through embassy channels in Beijing, according to a Nikkei report.
“This series of North Korean actions threatens the peace and security of Japan, the region, and the international community,” Japanese Defence Minister Shinjiro Koizumi was quoted as saying by Nikkei.
On Saturday, North Korea dismissed a resolution by the UN nuclear watchdog against Pyongyang’s nuclear programme.
Pyongyang last week also condemned a US-led naval drill which included South Korea and Japan and which ran from August 29 to September 10 near Guam.
North Korea’s Kim Yo Jong, the influential sister of leader Kim Jong Un, on Friday blamed US-led military drills for “ever-worsening” tensions on the Korean Peninsula and vowed no change in the country’s course to strengthen its nuclear arsenal.
(Reporting by Cynthia Kim and Heejin Kim in Seoul and Junko Fujita in Tokyo, additional reporting by Sumedha Mukherjee in Bengaluru; Editing by William Mallard and Michael Perry)
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