North Korea fired at least one unidentified ballistic missile on Saturday, the South Korean military said, ahead of joint Washington-Seoul military exercises to be held next week. “North Korea has launched an unidentified ballistic missile towards (the) East Sea,” South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said, referring to the name given to the Sea of Japan.
Pyongyang “launched an ICBM-class ballistic missile in an easterly direction. It flew for about 66 minutes,” Japanese government spokesman Hirokazu Matsuno confirmed to reporters. He said the projectile traveled a distance of about 900 km and appeared to have landed at 18:27 Japan time.
US military maneuvers amid tensions
“It appears that the ballistic missile launched by North Korea fell in Japan’s EEZ west of Hokkaido,” Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida told reporters, explaining that he had “given instructions (…) to inform the population and thoroughly review the security situation.” “. A Japanese Defense Ministry official earlier said the missile is expected to land about 200 km west of the island of Oshima, off the northern island of Hokkaido.
This shooting comes as the two allies prepare for simulation exercises to be held in Washington next week to discuss the action to be taken in the event Pyongyang uses nuclear weapons. North Korea on Friday threatened to use “unprecedented” force in response to upcoming US-South Korea maneuvers, saying it sees them as preparation for armed conflict. If Washington and Seoul conduct these exercises, “they will face strong and unprecedented countermeasures (…)” a spokesman for Pyongyang diplomacy said in a statement.