North Korea has fired three short-range ballistic missiles towards the Sea of Japan, the latest launches in a year that has seen an unprecedented barrage of missile tests by an increasingly belligerent Pyongyang, reports Al jazeera.
Japan’s Ministry of Defence claimed the first ballistic missile was fired on Saturday morning shortly after 08:00am local time, the second was launched at approximately 08:14am, and a third missile took off a minute later.
All three missiles were fired from the suburbs of the capital Pyongyang and reached an altitude of 100km and flew for an estimated 350km.
The missiles splashed down in the Sea of Japan but outside Japan’s exclusive economic zone – a body of water that extends approximately 370km from the country’s coastline – according to the ministry and news organisations.
The ministry said that warning information was provided to aircraft and ships in the vicinity of the missiles’ flight path, but there were no incidents reported “at this time”.
“North Korea’s series of actions, including its repeated ballistic missile launches, threatens the peace and security of Japan, the region, and the international community. In addition, such ballistic tests violate relevant United Nations Security Council resolutions,” the defence ministry said in a statement.
South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff confirmed the missile launches by North Korea and said their military was monitoring the situation.
“Our military maintains a full readiness posture while closely cooperating with the US and strengthening surveillance and vigilance,” the Joint Chiefs of Staff said.
Bd-pratidin English/Tanvir Raihan
