North Korea has increasingly fired missiles in recent weeks in what would be a flare in the tensions in the Korean peninsula. Pyongyang launched two more missiles over the weekend, marking the seventh launch in a span of two weeks.
North Korea launched two missiles to the east of the peninsula, marking the seventh launch in two weeks. The latest launch comes as the United States and South Korea finished their naval drills. The South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff said the first missile was fired from the North Korean city of Munchon Sunday, with the second missile launching six minutes later.
The Japanese government also said the missiles that were fired over the weekend were ballistic missiles. Japanese senior vice defense minister Toshiro Ino told reporters the missiles reached an altitude of 100 kilometers within the range of 320 kilometers. Both missiles fell outside Japan’s exclusive economic zone, and officials are looking into the type of missiles that were launched as well as the possibility that they were submarine-launched missiles.
The South Korean military said the latest launches breached United Nations Security Council resolutions. The US Indo-Pacific Command said that they were speaking with allies and partners, reiterating the “destabilizing impact” of North Korea’s nuclear arms and ballistic missile programs.
The most recent missile launches from Pyongyang came around the time the US and South Korea were holding naval drills, the drills involving the nuclear-powered USS Ronald Reagan having concluded on Saturday. The launch on Sunday also came ahead of the 77th anniversary of the founding of the ruling Worker’s Party of North Korea.
Pyongyang has defended its missile launches, saying that it was a legitimate defense against what it calls a decades-old threat from the United States. The North Korean state news outlet KCNA said the missile launches did not harm the safety of civil aviation or posed a threat to the neighboring countries, citing officials and the statement released by North Korea’s aviation authorities.
“The missile test launch by the DPRK is a regular and planned self-defensive step for defending the country’s security and the regional peace from the US direct military threats that have lasted for more than half a century,” said the North Korean aviation authority in the statement, as reported by South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency.