North Korea: North Korea fired four ballistic missiles into the sea off Japan’s northwest early on Monday, South Korean and Japanese officials said, days after it promised retaliation over US-South Korea military drills it sees as a preparation for war.
South Korea’s military said the missiles were unlikely to have been intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM), which can reach the United States. The missiles flew on average 1,000 km and reached a height of 260 km.
Some of the missiles landed in waters as close as 300 km from Japan’s northwest coast, Japan’s Defence Minister Tomomi Inada said in Tokyo.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said “strong protests” had been lodged with nuclear-armed North Korea.
“The launches are clearly in violation of (United Nations) Security Council resolutions. It is an extremely dangerous action,” Abe told parliament.
South Korea’s acting President Hwang Kyo-ahn condemned the launches as a direct challenge to the international community and said Seoul would swiftly deploy a US anti-missile defence system despite angry objections from China.
The missiles were launched from the Tongchang-ri region near the reclusive North’s border with China, South Korean military spokesman Roh Jae-cheon told a briefing.
It was too early to say what the relatively low altitude indicated about the types of missiles, he said.
North Korea had threatened to take “strong retaliatory measures” after South Korea and the United States began annual joint military drills on Wednesday that test their defensive readiness against possible aggression from the North.
North Korea criticises the annual drills and has previously conducted missile launches to coincide with the exercises.
Last year, North Korea fired a long-range rocket from Tongchang-ri that put an object into orbit. That launch was condemned by the United Nations for violating resolutions that ban the use of ballistic missile technology.