North Korea fired two ballistic missiles off its east coast today, South Korea’s military said, two days after the North claimed to have tested a new missile in its first weapons test in six months.
The two ballistic missiles launched from a site in central North Korea flew toward the waters of the Korean Peninsula’s east coast this afternoon, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement.
The statement said South Korean and US intelligence authorities are analysing more details about the North Korean launches. It said South Korea has boosted its anti-North Korea surveillance posture.
Japan’s coast guard confirmed the missiles both landed outside Japanese Exclusive Economic Zone in the waters between Japan and the Korean Peninsula. No ships or aircraft reported damage, the Coast Guard said.
North Korea said on Monday it tested a newly developed cruise missile twice over the weekend. North Korea’s state media described the missile as a “strategic weapon of great significance,” implying they were developed with the intent to arm them with nuclear warheads. According to North Korean accounts, the missile flew about 1500 kilometres, a distance that is capable of reaching all of Japan and US military installations there.
Many experts say the North Korean test suggested North Korea is pushing to bolster its weapons arsenal amid a deadlock in nuclear diplomacy between Pyongyang and Washington.
