The defence ministry in Tokyo said the three missiles were estimated to have fallen into Japan’s maritime Exclusive Economic Zone.
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Since the Rodong has a range of 1,300 kilometers, including the eastern Chinese city of Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, which hosted the G-20 summit, North Korea may have hoped to impress the world with its missile attack capability, analysts said.
The conflict between South Korea and China caused by President Park Geun-hye’s decision to allow the deployment of a powerful US antimissile system remained unresolved Monday as her emotional appeal to persuade Chinese President Xi Jinping faced adamant opposition.
“Mishandling the issue is not conducive to strategic stability in the region and could intensify disputes”, Xi told Park, according to a report from the Chinese state-run news agency Xinhua.
The THAAD, system devised by the USA military to shoot down short-, medium- and intermediate range ballistic missiles, seeks to consolidate the hegemony in the Asia-Pacific region, according to experts and much of the global community.
Officials in South Korea and the United States have tried to assuage Chinese fears, insisting that the move is designed purely to counter growing missile threats from North Korea, and not to target China.
The discussion – requested by council members Japan and the United States – is slated to begin at 11:30am local time (1530 GMT) in NY, where the council will consider a response to the latest missile launches, diplomats said.
Monday’s launches were just the latest salvo in a steady series of missiles coming from North Korea.
In other words, calm down, North Korea.
Among the leaders attending the summit are British Prime Minister Theresa May, US President Barrack Obama and German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
Park said that a THAAD deployment would not threaten any other country’s security interests and would not be needed if the North’s nuclear issue was resolved, Yonhap news agency said.
In early August, North Korea fired a missile-also thought to be a Rodong-that landed about 150 miles west of northern Japan.
It was the latest in a series of missile tests conducted by the North despite United Nations resolutions prohibiting it from using ballistic missile technology.
And Japan’s Defense Minister Tomomo Inada reportedly described the missile launches as a “serious threat” to his country and a sign that North Korea’s missile technology had “substantially improved”. “It will only strengthen the worldwide community’s commitment not to accept North Korea’s nuclear program and to impose sanctions and pressure on the North”.
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“At the moment, the situation on the Korean peninsula is quite complex and sensitive”.
