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PoliticsNorth Korea

N. Korea fires missiles after Washington-Seoul drills

October 8, 2022

South Korea and Japan have said North Korea has launched two more missiles in a blitz of recent weapons tests. The launches came as US-South Korea naval drills in the region ended.

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People watching a television screen with file footage of a North Korean missile test
North Korea has launched several missiles in the past two weeksImage: Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Images

South Korea said North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles into its eastern waters early on Sunday morning local time, the latest in a series of launches that Pyongyang has called a "righteous reaction" to military drills by Seoul and Washington.

South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement it detected the two missiles launched between 1:48 a.m. and 1:58 a.m. on Sunday (1648 and 1658 UTC Saturday) from the eastern coastal city of Munchon.

The Japanese government also reported that North Korea had fired missiles, with Vice Defense Minister Toshiro Ino saying they had both landed in the sea outside of Japan's exclusive economic zone. Authorities were investigating what type of missiles were launched and the possibility they were submarine-launched ballistic missiles.

Ino said both missiles flew about 350 kilometers (217 miles) at a maximum attitude of 100 kilometers and ended their journeys in waters between the Korean Peninsula and Japan.

UN resolutions prohibit North Korea from testing ballistic missiles of any range amid fears over the communist country's nuclear weapons program.

The US Indo-Pacific Command said in a statement that the launches highlighted "the destabilizing impact'' of North Korea's unlawful weapons programs. It said the US remained unwaveringly committed to the defense of South Korea and Japan.

Escalation of weapons tests

In the past two weeks, North Korea has fired several ballistic missiles into the sea in multiple launch events, with one nuclear-capable missile on Tuesday flying over Japan for the first time in five years.  

The reported launches came at the conclusion of drills by the US and South Korea that involved the participation of the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan.

North Korea regards such military exercises as a rehearsal for an invasion of its territory and reacts particularly strongly if the US deploys major strategic assets such as an aircraft carrier.

tj/sms (AFP, AP, Reuters)