However, US Strategic Command argues that it has detected two missiles, one of which exploded immediately after launch.
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The top USA commander in South Korea insisted Tuesday that an advanced missile defense system is safe and must be deployed in a southeastern region to maximize the area being defended.
North Korea has fired another ballistic missile into the sea, South Korea’s military said.
Japan lodged a stern protest with North Korea on Wednesday over its launch of a ballistic missile in the morning, with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe condemning the latest provocation as a “grave threat” to Japanese security.
North Korea says such drills are a provocative rehearsal for invasion, while Washington and Seoul insist they are purely defensive in nature.
Following a flight of around 1,000km (620 miles), however, the missile has now apparently landed in Japanese waters, according to both South Korea and Japan.
After the launch of shorter-range Scud missiles last month, North Korean state media ran footage showing Kim Jong Un sitting in front of maps that put all of South Korea, right down to the southern port city of Busan, within range. North Korea later says it has developed a new large-caliber artillery rocket system that boosts its ability to attack the South.
SEOUL-North Korea fired a ballistic missile early Wednesday that landed unusually close to Japan, drawing a strong protest from Tokyo a day after it warned of Pyongyang’s advancing missile threat.
South Korea said it showed the North’s ambition to attack its neighbours.
– March 10: Two short-range ballistic missiles land in the sea, hours before North Korea declares it will “liquidate” all South Korean assets at former cooperative projects in the North.
These provocations only serve to increase the global community’s resolve to counter the North Korean prohibited activities, including through implementing existing UN Security Council sanctions.
The two Koreas technically remain in a state of war after the 1950-53 Korean War ended in an armistice, not a peace treaty.
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The upward trend, however, is not expected to continue in the second half of this year as the decision between Seoul and Washington to deploy Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) in South Korean soil damages Beijing-Seoul relations and may result in weak demand for South Korean products.
