North Korea fires short-range ballistic missiles
Japan’s defense ministry said no missiles had reached Japanese territory.
North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles early on Wednesday, the South Korean military said, only days after it launched two other missiles intended to pressure South Korea and the United States to stop upcoming military drills.
The latest launches were from the Hodo peninsula on North Korea’s east coast, the same area from where last week’s were conducted, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said in a statement. It said that it was monitoring in case of additional launches.
The JCS in Seoul said later the North had fired ballistic missiles that flew about 250 km (155 miles). South Korean news agency Yonhap said they appeared to be a different type to previous launches.
Colonel Lee Peters, a spokesman for US military forces in South Korea, said: “We are aware of reports of a missile launch from North Korea and we will continue to monitor the situation.”
He did not comment when asked whether the joint South Korea-US drills, scheduled to begin next month, would continue.
Japan’s defense ministry said no missiles had reached Japanese territory or its exclusive economic zone, and the launches did not threaten Japan’s immediate security.
