N. Korea launches 2 short-range ballistic missiles into East Sea

North Korea has fired yet another round of ballistic missiles into the East Sea.
This happened early Thursday morning, local time.
This comes just two days after the North fired a missile that flew over Japan.

North Korea has fired two short-range ballistic missiles into the East Sea.
South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff announced the launch on Thursday morning, saying that they were spotted at around 6 AM to 6:20 AM and the launch sites were from the area of Samsuk in Pyeongyang.

One of the missiles traveled 350 kilometers, reaching a height of 80 kilometers with a speed of Mach 5.
The other one flew 800 kilometers, reaching a height of 60 kilometers with a speed of Mach 6.
Further details are still being analyzed and the South Korean military is working closely with the U.S. to be fully prepared for more provocations.

According to Japan’s NHK and Kyodo News, the Japanese government said the two ballistic missiles landed just outside of its exclusive economic zone.

Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida told reporters that the North’s missile launch is totally unacceptable and urged the officials to swiftly provide details of the weapons to the public.

This follows the North firing an intermediate-range ballistic missile on Tuesday from Mupyong-ri in its northern province of Jagang, its first IRBM launch in eight months.

That missile traveled roughly four,six-hundred kilometers over Japan before falling into the Pacific Ocean. It has a long enough range to strike the U.S. territory of Guam. This also marks Pyeongyang’s sixth launch of missiles in just 12 days, ratcheting up tensions on the Korean Peninsula.

And following the North’s ballistic missile launch two days ago, the U.S. aircraft carrier – the USS Ronald Reagan – has made a U-turn, coming back to the East Sea in a show of force.

Some say North Korea’s missile launch on Thursday is in response to the USS Ronald Reagan’s return to waters east of South Korea to join a trilateral exercise with Seoul and Tokyo.

The U.S. aircraft carrier initially left the waters last week following a bilateral naval exercise with South Korea and trilateral drills also including Japan.

North Korea’s foreign ministry said Thursday morning in a press release that the redeployment of the USS Ronald Reagan is causing serious threats around the Korean Peninsula and it is closely watching the situation.


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Source: Arirang News | Reporter : jy_rachel@arirang.com

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