South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said it had detected what it believed were two short-range ballistic missiles fired eastward from North Pyongan Province on North Korea’s northwest coast.
The North Korean Central News Agency said the firing exercise aims to “verify and judge the efficiency of the working procedures of the railway mobile system”, which the country tested for the first time last September and was designed as a counter strike force against any threatening forces.
Meanwhile, the US State Department said Secretary of State Anthony Blinken reiterated the US commitment to defending South Korea in a phone call with the South Korean foreign minister on Friday, following North Korea’s three ballistic missile tests this year.
“Blinken…highlighted the importance of continued trilateral cooperation between the United States, South Korea, and Japan, and reiterated the United States’ strong commitment to defending South Korea,” said State Department spokesman Ned Price.
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