North Korea on Thursday launched two short-range missiles that landed in Japan’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) shortly after Pyongyang warned there would be an “inevitable” response to joint maneuvers between the United States and South Korea.
“Two ballistic missiles have landed in the EEZ (Exclusive Economic Zone),” which stretches 370 kilometers off Japan’s coast, between territorial and international waters, said Kimi Onoda, parliamentary secretary to Japan’s defense minister.
Japan’s Prime Minister, Fumio Kishida, explained that what happened, no compensation has been added.
These actions “contrary to United Nations Security Council resolutions and constitute a reckless act that exacerbates (Pyongyang’s) provocations against the international community,” he told the press.
In a statement released by Washington after a meeting in Japan between the national security advisers of the three countries, the United States, Japan and South Korea, they stressed that “these shots are in clear violation of multiple United Nations resolutions United Security Council”.
The shots “demonstrate the threat that (North Korea’s) illegal weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile programs pose to the region,” they said.
The Seoul General Staff in turn reported the launch of “two short-range ballistic missiles from the Sunan area, bound for the Baltic Sea between 19:25 and 19:37”.
“We have intensified monitoring in case there are further provocations and are working closely with the United States,” the Joint Chiefs of Staff in Seoul added.
Relations between the two Koreas are now facing one of the worst moments in recent years.
North Korea has launched several missiles since the beginning of the year in 2023 after violating sanctions against the country, including firing intercontinental ballistic missiles.
In response, the government of South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol has stepped up cooperation with the United States, with frequent large-scale joint military exercises to ensure greater security.
The current joint maneuvers, conducted with live ammunition, “are targeting the DPRK (North Korea), mobilizing a huge amount of different weapons and strike teams,” a spokesman for the North Korean defense ministry said Thursday.
“Our reaction is inevitable,” he warned. “Our armed forces will fully oppose any form of demonstrative action and provocation by enemies.”
North Korea regularly launches missiles into the region, launches condemned by its neighbors, South Korea and Japan, two allies of the United States.
However, no North Korean missiles had landed in Japan’s EEZ in recent months.
Source: DN
