South Korea and the United States launched four surface-to-surface missiles into the Sea of Japan on Wednesday, about 24 hours after North Korea fired a ballistic missile, South Korea’s Yonhap news agency reported.
These launches are in response to a North Korean ballistic missile fired at Japan on Tuesday, the first in five years, according to the South Korean military quoted by Yonhap.
South Korean and US armies have fired two tactical missiles at simulated targets, according to the South Korean General Staff.
On Tuesday, the air forces of the two allied countries had already conducted a bombing exercise on a target in the Yellow Sea.
Earlier, John Kirby, the spokesman for the US National Security Council interviewed by CNN, said the US was “responding to provocations from the north” to “ensure military capabilities are ready” without confirming releases, however.
South Korea further revealed that a ballistic missile failed and fell on land during a live fire drill with the United States, with the sound of the explosion and ensuing fire causing panic among residents of the northern coastal city of Gangneung.
South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff explained today that no one was injured in the accident that happened Tuesday night, the Associated Press (AP) reported.
The same source explained that the military was investigating the reason for the Hyunmoo-2 missile’s failure.
The military recognized the accident hours after several people posted videos on social media showing an orange fireball emanating from an area they described as close to an air force base in Gangneung.
On Tuesday, the Pyongyang-launched missile flew over northern Japan’s archipelago, activating the region’s civilian warning system and advising the population to flee a potential impact.
According to the Japanese government, the missile is the longest-range missile so far of any tested by North Korea, reaching a maximum altitude of nearly 1,000 kilometers and a final range of 4,600 kilometers.
According to the Defense Ministry, the projectile landed in the waters of the Pacific Ocean and outside Japan’s exclusive economic space.
The United States on Tuesday requested that the UN Security Council meet urgently on Wednesday to deal with this new North Korean launch.
The new North Korean launch came after Tokyo, Washington and Seoul conducted joint maneuvers in the Sea of Japan last week, in which the US aircraft carrier USS “Ronald Reagan” participated.
This kind of testing of long-range weapons capable of carrying nuclear warheads is prohibited by UN Security Council resolutions, which usually meet when Pyongyang conducts a test.
Last May, the United States proposed tightening international sanctions against North Korea in response to repeated weapons tests, but Russia and China vetoed them.
The United States, Japan and NATO on Tuesday condemned North Korea’s firing of a ballistic missile at Japan and promised to coordinate a multilateral response to the provocation of President Kim Jong-un’s regime.
The White House said the three states were preparing a “robust response” to launch ballistic missiles.
European Council President Charles Michel also condemned the launch of a North Korean ballistic missile at Japan, calling the act an “unjustified aggression”.
Source: DN
