South Korea’s military on Friday denounced North Korea’s launch of two ballistic missiles into the Sea of Japan, less than a week after it fired two medium-range projectiles, amid a spike in tensions on the peninsula.
The South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff said it detected the launch of two short-range ballistic missiles from the Sunan area and added that they flew between 250 and 350 kilometers, South Korea’s Yonhap news agency reported.
He also said that this is a «significant provocation» that harms peace and stability on the Korean peninsula and internationally, before stressing that it is a «clear» violation of UN Security Council resolutions.
«We condemn them and call for their immediate end,» he said, while stressing that the South Korean military «will maintain solid readiness based on its capabilities to respond overwhelmingly to any provocation by North Korea.»
For the moment, no further details on these launches have been released, and North Korea has not commented on the matter. On Sunday, Pyongyang launched two medium-range ballistic missiles into the Sea of Japan, also known as the East Sea. During this year, North Korea has fired more than 60 ballistic missiles, an annual high.
After Sunday’s launch, the North Korean authorities said it was a test in the framework of the development of a military reconnaissance satellite that it seeks to put into orbit in April next year. It explained that the objective was to «evaluate the capacity of photography, satellite data, transmission systems and the ground control system».
The launch by North Korea increases tensions in the region after North Korea has in recent weeks launched dozens of ballistic missiles in tests banned by UN Security Council resolutions, in response to military maneuvers between Washington and Seoul, which Pyongyang considers an invasion test.
U.S. and South Korean officials agreed Wednesday to conduct «realistic» joint military maneuvers, especially in the face of missile or nuclear attack scenarios by North Korea. The South Korean Defense Ministry stressed that the parties also plan to expand their joint exercises next year after a meeting between senior defense officials from both countries.
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
