SEOUL, Sept 28 (Reuters) – North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles off its east coast on Wednesday, the South Korean military said, a day before the U.S. vice president’s arrival in Seoul Kamala Harris.
The launch came two days after South Korea and US forces conducted a military exercise in waters off the South’s east coast involving an aircraft carrier. On Sunday, North Korea fired another ballistic missile into the sea off its east coast.
Wednesday’s missiles were launched from the Sunan area of Pyongyang, the North Korean capital, between 6:10 p.m. and 6:20 p.m. 0910-0920 GMT), the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff said.
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They traveled about 360 km (225 miles), reaching an altitude of 30 km (19 miles) and a top speed of Mach 6 (4,600 mph or 7,450 km/h), they said, adding that a detailed analysis was In progress.
“North Korea’s provocations will further strengthen the South Korean-American deterrence and response capability, and will only deepen North Korea’s isolation from the international community,” the heads of state said. -major in a statement.
South Korea’s National Security Council held an emergency meeting and condemned the test, pledging to continue to build its “overwhelming” ability to deter North Korea, President Yoon Suk’s office said. yeol in a separate release.
North Korean state media did not mention reports of the latest launches, but its leader Kim Jong Un said his development of nuclear weapons and missiles was intended to defend North Korea against US threats. .
Japan’s coast guard also reported an alleged ballistic missile test, which its minister of state for defense Toshiro Ino condemned as “unacceptable”. He said repeated missile launches from Pyongyang jeopardize Japanese and international security.
After a stopover in Japan, Harris will touch down in the South Korean capital and tour the heavily fortified demilitarized zone (DMZ) between neighbors on Thursday.
In a speech hours earlier aboard the destroyer USS Howard in the Japanese city of Yokosuka, Harris called Sunday’s missile launch “an illicit weapons program that threatens regional stability and violates multiple UN Security Council resolutions.” the UN”.
The US Indo-Pacific Command said the latest launch highlights the “destabilizing impact” of the North’s illegal weapons programs.
A US State Department spokesman also condemned the test as a regional threat, but said Washington remained committed to a diplomatic approach and urged Pyongyang to engage in dialogue.
North Korea has been testing missiles at an unprecedented rate this year, while this week’s joint drill is a show of force meant to warn against what could be Pyongyang’s first nuclear test since 2017.
The isolated country has completed preparations for a nuclear test, a window for which could open between China’s party congress in October and the U.S. midterm elections in November, South Korean lawmakers said on Wednesday. Read more
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Reporting by Hyonhee Shin; Additional reporting by Kantaro Komiya and Trevor Hunnicutt in Tokyo and Susan Heavey in Washington; Editing by Robert Birsel, Clarence Fernandez and Mark Heinrich
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