South Korea’s military says North Korea has launched two new ballistic missiles into the Sea of Japan east of the peninsula, Yonhap News Agency reports.
North Korea fired a ballistic missile toward the East Sea, the South Korean army said on Monday morning (just before midnight on Sunday French time), Yonhap news agency reports. A second launch from Seoul was reported minutes later.
For its part, Japan’s Defense Ministry claims that Pyongyang fired “something that could be a ballistic missile,” reports Japan’s public broadcaster NHK. The Japan Coast Guard said shortly thereafter that the projectile “appeared to have already fallen,” with no further details.
Three shots in 48 hours
North Korea confirmed on Sunday it had fired an ICBM the previous day as a warning to Washington and Seoul, and said the “surprisingly” successful exercise demonstrated its “lethal nuclear counterattack capabilities.”
In response, the South Korean military said Sunday it had organized joint air exercises with the United States, mobilizing stealth aircraft and at least one American long-range B-1B bomber.
Japan had said the ICBM flew 66 minutes before diving without its exclusive economic zone.
Turning the Pacific into a “firing ground” depends on Washington’s actions, Pyongyang warned Monday after launching three missiles in just 48 hours.