North Korea fired two ballistic missiles on Saturday, the South Korean military said, the fourth such launch in a week, after Seoul, Tokyo and Washington held trilateral anti-submarine exercises on Friday.
South Korea’s military said they had “detected two short-range missiles between 6:45 am and 7:03 am fired from the Sunan area, Pyongyang” into the Sea of Japan. The two machines “flew (a distance) of approximately 350 km, at an altitude of 30 km (and) at a speed of Mach 6,” according to a press release from the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff, calling these shots ” serious provocation”.
An “unprecedented pace”
Japan also reported the obvious launch of two ballistic missiles, saying they appeared to have run their course outside of Japan’s exclusive economic zones. According to Japan’s Deputy Defense Minister Toshiro Ino, the missiles “appear to have followed irregular trajectories.” “North Korea has intensified its missile attacks at an unprecedented rate,” he said.
Jagged trajectories indicate the missiles are capable of maneuvering in flight, making them more difficult to track and intercept, experts say. The US command in the region said in a statement that these latest missile launches “highlight North Korea’s ability to destabilize illegal weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile programs.”
stalled negotiations
Seoul, Tokyo and Washington held trilateral anti-submarine exercises for the first time in five years on Friday, days after US and South Korean navies staged large-scale exercises off the peninsula. US Vice President Kamala Harris was in Seoul on Thursday and visited the demilitarized zone (DMZ) between the two Koreas, on a trip to underscore Washington’s “unwavering” commitment to defending South Korea against the North.
Pyongyang has stepped up its banned weapons programs as talks have long stalled, conducting a record number of weapons tests this year and revising legislation to make its status as a nuclear power “irreversible.”
Source: BFM TV
