‘Initial indications reveal one of the missiles exploded immediately after launch, while the second was tracked over North Korea and into the Sea of Japan’.
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“North Korea’s actions, combined with an unpredictable leader in Kim Jong Un, represent a serious and tangible threat to the Republic of Korea and the region at large”, Gen. Vincent Brooks, the top US commander in Korea, said Tuesday in remarks to a group of defense experts.
Japan said the one missile had landed 155 miles off its northern coast and within the country’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).
Local media reports say South Korean officials believe the North is preparing to conduct a fifth test of a nuclear weapon.
Japan’s PM Shinzo Abe said the test launch posed a grave threat to the country’s security and that Tokyo had protested strongly against it.
USA and South Korean officials insist the THAAD is necessary to guard against the growing threat from North Korea.
Several other North Korean rockets have gone farther and even over Japan.
The missile launch was the first since July 19.
In June, North Korea, after a string of failures, sent another type of mid-range missile known as Musudan more than 1,400 kilometers (870 miles) high. Analysts said the high-altitude flight meant North Korea had made progress in its push to be able to strike US forces throughout the region.
The new missile launch came almost a week after South Korea and the United States chose a site in the South to deploy the anti-missile system to counter threats from North Korea.
North Korea has launched a ballistic missile toward the Sea of Japan, which reportedly landed in or near Japanese-controlled waters for the first time.
“North Korea, by firing of ballistic missile which can equip nuclear warhead, is openly showing its direct and obvious intention of provocation and ambition that it can target our country, including our ports and airports, as well as neighbor countries”, the official said.
Tensions have spiked on the peninsula since Pyongyang conducted its fourth underground nuclear test in January, followed by a long-range rocket launch and several missile tests despite a new round of toughened United Nations sanctions.
The UN has imposed a general ban on Pyongyang’s developing of the ballistic missile technology.
And tensions on the divided Korean peninsula are also building up ahead of a large-scale South Korea-US military exercise that begins on August 22 and involves tens of thousands of troops.
The US Strategic Command said North Korea fired two presumed Rodong missiles simultaneously, not just one.
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The two Koreas technically remain in a state of war after the 1950-53 Korean War ended in an armistice, not a peace treaty.
