By Soo-hyang Choi
SEOUL (Reuters) – North Korea fired two ballistic missiles on its east coast, South Korea’s military said on Monday (local time), as leader Kim Jong Un’s powerful sister warned the country could transform the Pacific in a “firing range”.
The launches come just two days after North Korea fired an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) into the sea off Japan’s west coast, prompting joint US-South Korean air exercises on Sunday.
North Korean state media confirmed that it fired two projectiles from a multiple rocket launcher, targeting targets 395 km and 337 km away respectively.
“The 600 mm multiple rocket launcher deployed in the firing … is a tactical nuclear weapon asset” capable of “paralyzing” an enemy airfield, state news agency KCNA said.
Japan’s Ministry of Defense said the two ballistic missiles, fired at around 7 pm (1900 GMT), reached a maximum altitude of around 100 km and 50 km, covering a distance of around 350-400 km before crashing down. outside Japan’s exclusive economic zone.
There were no reports of damage to aircraft or vessels.
In a statement, the ministry said it would continue to collect and analyze 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 vigorously condemned North Korea.”
INCREASING TENSION
North Korean leader Kim’s sister Kim Yo Jong warned against increasing the presence of US strategic assets on the Korean peninsula after the United States conducted joint air exercises with South Korea and separately with Japan on Sunday.
“We are carefully examining the influence this would have on our state’s security,” she said in a statement. “The frequency of using the Pacific as our firing range depends on the character of action of US forces.”
She also refuted experts’ assessment of its missile capabilities after some pointed out it took more than nine hours for the “sudden” missile launch to take place following an order from leader Kim, and said South Korea had not even conducted recognition at launch.
“We have satisfactory technology and capacity, and now we will focus on increasing the amount of its force,” she said.
Monday’s missile launch is the North’s third major weapons test this year after Pyongyang threatened a “persistent and unprecedented” response as South Korea and the United States prepared for their annual military exercises as part of efforts to fend off the North’s growing nuclear and missile threat.
(Reporting by Soo-hyang Choi in Seoul and Chang-ran Kim in Tokyo)
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