North Korea fired short-range ballistic missiles towards the East Sea | Today’s news
North Korea fired several short-range ballistic missiles toward waters off its east coast on Saturday, a day after the US, South Korea and Japan ended joint military exercises that Pyongyang condemned as a threat to its security.
The missiles were fired from the Wonsan area on North Korea’s east coast around 5:20 a.m., South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a text message. The military said it had stepped up surveillance and preparedness for possible further launches and shared information closely with the US and Japan.
According to a separate statement, South Korea’s National Security Agency called a meeting to assess the emergency security situation. South Korea has called on North Korea to immediately stop the launch of ballistic missiles, which it called a serious violation of UN Security Council resolutions.
Separately, US Pacific Command said it was aware of the incident and that there was no immediate threat to the US and its allies. No further details were immediately available.
The launches are raising tensions on the Korean Peninsula as President Donald Trump seeks to revive diplomacy with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un while maintaining security cooperation with Washington’s two key Asian allies.
They came just hours after the three allies completed the five-day Freedom Edge exercise, which took place on Friday in international waters east and south of South Korea’s Jeju Island. The goal of the exercise is to improve their ability to jointly respond to North Korean nuclear and missile threats.
North Korea sharply criticized the exercise. Defense Minister Kim Song Gi warned at the start of the exercises that Pyongyang would take “strong and reflexive countermeasures” if the US and its allies provoked a military confrontation. Pyongyang has long characterized the joint exercises involving Washington as training for an invasion, while the US and its allies say they are defensive.
The latest drills come even after Trump last month ordered the US and South Korea to scale back their bilateral Ulchi Freedom Shield drills, a move widely seen as an attempt to make room for renewed diplomacy with Pyongyang. Trump has said he wants to resume talks with Kim, with whom he had three meetings during his first term.
The weapons test also follows North Korea’s unveiling of its second 5,000-tonne destroyer this month, part of Kim’s push to expand the country’s naval and nuclear capabilities. Kim attended the commissioning of the Kang Kon in Wonsan and promised to further strengthen the country’s nuclear forces.
With the help of Soo-Hyang Choi.
This article was generated from an automated news agency source without text modification.
