Korea, US ‘ready’ as missiles fired off

SEOUL: North Korea fired two ballistic missiles into the sea on Sunday, the South’s military said, the latest in a blitz of launches amid tensions over US-led military exercises in the region.

The South Korean military’s Joint Chiefs of Staff announced the launch – the seventh in two weeks – came from the southeast of the country, without giving further details. “While strengthening our monitoring and vigilance, our military is maintaining a full readiness posture in close co-operation with the United States,” the Joint Chiefs of Staff said.

North Korea on Saturday had defended its recent flurry of missile tests as a legitimate counter to US military threats, following days of joint military exercises between the South, Japan and the United States.

The Japanese prime minister’s office also confirmed at least one of Sunday’s missiles (pictured) on Twitter.

“North Korea has launched a suspected ballistic missile. More updates to follow,” the office said.

Japanese Senior Vice Defence Minister Toshiro Ino said it is possible the missiles, which he said were fired just before 2am on Sunday and travelled 350km at a maximum altitude of 100km, were launched from submarines.

The missiles, fired toward the Sea of Japan, seem to have fallen outside Japan’s exclusive economic zone, the Japanese government said. The coast guard said it had so far not received any reports of damage to Japanese ships, national broadcaster NHK reported.

The US military’s Indo-Pacific Command meanwhile said in a statement they were “aware of the two ballistic missile launches and are consulting closely with our allies and partners,” saying the launch shows the “destabilising” nature of North Korea’s missile program.

“The US commitments to the defence of the Republic of Korea and Japan remain ironclad,” the statement said.