North Korea launched two new ballistic missiles into the Sea of ??Japan, also known as the East Sea, on Friday in response to military maneuvers by South Korea in the city of Pohang.
The South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff reported the launch of two short-range projectiles fired from the North Korean county of Tongcheon into the Sea of ??Japan between 11:59 a.m. and 12:18 p.m. (local time), Yonhap reported.
Although the South Korean Armed Forces have not yet determined the launch specifications such as the range, altitude and speed of the missiles, it has pointed out that they were fired shortly after the annual national defense training of Hoguk, a large-scale maneuver exercise launched by the South Korean Army on October 17.
Before the launch of this missile, North Korea’s propaganda outlet ‘Echo’ denounced the defense training as “an act of reckless confrontation that increases military instability and danger on the Korean peninsula.”
This new launch by Pyongyang further escalates tensions in the region, after North Korea has launched several ballistic missiles in recent weeks in tests prohibited by UN Security Council resolutions, in response to military maneuvers. US-Koreans that it considers an invasion rehearsal.
In fact, in the early hours of October 4, Pyongyang launched an intermediate-range ballistic missile that flew over Japanese territory to fall into the Pacific Ocean, outside Japanese airspace, a fact that had not happened since 2017.
The United States, as well as the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), have shared their evidence that North Korea is “likely” to carry out a nuclear missile test, the first since 2017, after having observed an escalation of stress in recent weeks.
