North Korea fired five unidentified short-range projectiles from an area south of Hamhung city, South Hamgyong province, on the country’s east coast, between 3:19 and 4:05 p.m.
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South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said that it was keeping a close watch on the situation, and were in a state of high alert in case of further provocations from the North.
Japan’s U.N. Ambassador Motohide Yoshikawa said the North took the message from the toughest sanctions imposed by the council two weeks ago in response to its latest nuclear test in January and rocket launch in February “totally wrong”. That would mark North Korea’s first test of a medium-range missile, capable of reaching Japan, since 2014.
In light of the ballistic missile launches on March 18 and on March 10, the council urged all countries “to redouble their efforts” to implement those sanctions and previous measures against the North.
Park said the severance of ties between Gazprom and Pyongyang is significant because there are few “tools that can be used as leverage” by Russian Federation. A few days later, Kim Jong-Un announced that a nuclear warhead explosion test and firings of “several kinds” of ballistic missiles would be carried out “in a short time ” .
The Defence Ministry also reiterated its assessment that the North was ready to carry out another test as soon as the leadership gave the order. “We strongly demand North Korea exercise restraint”, Abe told a parliamentary committee.
Tensions rose sharply in the Korean peninsula, after the North conducted nuclear tests earlier this year. This year’s drills are the largest ever, with 300,000 South Korean troops and at least 17,000 from the United States.
Last week, the North fired two short-range missiles into the sea off its east coast and its leader Kim Jong Un ordered more nuclear weapons tests and missile tests.
They came just days after the North test-fired two medium-range missiles in what the UN Security Council described as an “unacceptable” violation of UN resolutions.
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North Korea has been under United Nations sanctions since 2006 because of its four nuclear tests and multiple rocket launches.
