A United States military statement added that the second missile failed due to an immediate explosion after its launch.
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Japanese Defense Minister Gen Nakatani said one missile came down in Japan’s EEZ 250 km west of the Oga Peninsula in Akita Prefecture.
The zone extends 200 nautical miles from Japan’s coast and, whilst it’s within global waters, is under Japanese control.
The South’s Joint Chiefs of Staff noted that one of the missiles flew across the peninsula from the western province of South Hwanghae – a source cited by local news agency Yonhap suggested that it traveled close to its full range, which is estimated to be 1,300 kilometers (808 miles).
An official with the South Korean Defense Ministry told CNN that it is assumed a Rodong missile was sacked.
“Prime Minister Shinzo Abe had a grim look at a press conference on the day when he said: “[The launch] poses a grave threat to our national security.
North Korea fired two ballistic missiles Wednesday morning – including one into the Sea of Japan – in the country’s latest defiance of U.N. Security Council resolutions, USA and South Korean authorities said.
U.N. Security Council resolutions bar North Korea from developing ballistic missiles. Gary Ross, a spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Defense, said that the incident “only serves to increase the worldwide community’s resolve to counter [North Korea’s] prohibited activities”.
Condemnations from Tokyo and Washington are even stronger, as the missiles fired on Wednesday can fly to a maximum distance of some 1,300 kilometers, and can carry a nuclear warhead. A South Korean official, in the aftermath of Wednesday’s tests, said that Pyongyang is attempting to showcase its capability to “directly and broadly attack neighboring countries”.
Pressure to deploy THAAD was spurred after Pyongyang tested its fourth nuclear bomb on January 6 and then launched a long-range rocket on February 7.
According to a report from CBS News, North Korea has staged another missile launch, and this time, it barely missed Japan.
North Korea called the system a provocation that it says is only aimed at bolstering USA military hegemony in the region.
Last month South Korea confirmed it would deploy America’s Terminal High Altitude Air Defense missile defense system.
The latest missile tests also come as the US and South Korea prepare to hold additional military exercises in the area this month.
The North’s latest artillery launch saw two medium-range ballistic missiles fired into Japan’s territorial waters, in its most successful attempt to date. In March the council adopted its toughest sanctions resolution so far on the communist country, banning exports of coal, iron and other minerals and imposing restrictions in the banking sector.
North Korea threatened a physical response to the deployment decision.
Last month, South Korea’s defense ministry said the THAAD will be located in Seongju, in the southeastern part of the country.
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“There is a genuine threat from North Korea, including from its missile forces”. The two Koreas remain technically at war under a truce that ended fighting in the 1950-53 Korean War. “Our commitment to the defense of our allies, including the Republic of Korea (South Korea) and Japan, in the face of these threats, is ironclad”, Ross said.
