North Korea fired multiple short-range projectiles into the sea off the peninsula’s east coast today which were said to have a range of approximately 200 kilometers.
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In Tokyo, Japanese Defense Minister Gen Nakatani said Monday that Japan will continue gathering information and monitor activities in close coordination with the United States and South Korea.
Officials in Seoul say North Korea today fired five short-range projectiles into the sea.
The U.S. and South Korea are now engaged in the largest ever annual joint military exercises, which North Korea has protested.
U.S. Ambassador Samantha Power emphasized the need for implementing the new sanctions resolution, the toughest sanction to date, to target North Korea’s latest missile launching violation including their mining, trade, and financil sectors.
A man watches a TV screen showing a file footage of the missile launch conducted by North Korea, at Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea, on Monday. The missile was believed to be a test of re-entry technology necessary for a long-range nuclear missile.
Relations between North and South Korea have been turbulent for years.
South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement that the missiles flew 500 miles before crashing into the ocean. “The government is preparing for all possibilities”, said ministry spokesman Jeong Joon-hee.
The South Korean military was attempting to determine whether the projectiles were missiles, artillery or rockets.
However, analysis by North Korea-watching website 38 North said recent satellite imagery at the Punggye-ri nuclear test site “does not appear directed at further tunnel excavation but rather to maintain existing tunnels as well as to clean up after the January 2016 nuclear test”.
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Meanwhile, South Korean President Park Geun-hye was quoted by local news agency Yonhap Monday as describing the situation as “a very crucial time for the future of the Korean Peninsula”.
