Daily US Times: South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) has confirmed that North Korea has fired two ballistic missiles off its east coast.
Japan also confirmed that an object was fired and that it may have been a ballistic missile.
Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga of Japan has called the launch “outrageous” saying it threatened peace and security in the region.
This is the second weapons test Pyongyang has carried out this week.
It is unclear exactly where the missiles were destined for or their flight range, but South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said its military was maintaining “a full readiness posture in close cooperation with the US”.
Ballistic missile tests contravene United Nations resolutions designed to curb the North’s nuclear activities.
North Korea tested a long-range cruise missile on Monday which capable of hitting much of Japan, calling it “a strategic weapon of great significance”.
The cruise missile could possibly carry a nuclear warhead, experts say.
The UN Security Council doesn’t forbid the test of cruise missiles.
But it considers ballistic missiles to be more threatening because they have a much longer range, can carry bigger and more powerful payloads and can travel faster.
North Korea is facing a severe economic crisis and food shortages – prompting questions about how it is still able to develop weapons.
The country has spent more than a year in isolation due to the pandemic. It cut off most trade with its closest ally China to stop the spread of Covid-19.
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