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SEOUL (Reuters) – North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles into the waters off its east coast on Saturday morning, South Korea’s military said. Korea.
The missile was launched from North Hwanghae Province at 7:47 am (2247 GMT on Sunday) and flew about 370 kilometers (230 miles), South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said.
The Japanese government said both missiles appeared to have landed outside Japan’s exclusive economic zone.
Monday’s launch will see the U.S. aircraft carrier USS Nimitz and its accompanying strike group ship dock Tuesday at the South Korean naval base in the southeastern port city of Busan.
South Korea’s defense ministry said the carrier was scheduled to conduct joint maritime exercises with South Korean forces off the southern coast of the Korean peninsula on Monday before arriving.
The carrier’s planned visit is the first since the USS Ronald Reagan visited in September and is part of an effort to have more US “strategic assets” in the region to deter North Korea. was arranged as
The South Korean military has “strongly condemned” North Korea’s repeated missile launches as a serious act of provocation that violates UN Security Council resolutions and called for an immediate cessation.
In a statement, the Joint Chiefs of Staff said it would “monitor North Korea’s various activities and maintain a robust readiness posture based on its ability to overwhelmingly respond to any provocation,” and continued military exercises with the United States as scheduled. Then added:
The Japanese government has “strongly protested” to North Korea, saying the missile launch threatens the security and peace of Japan, the region and the international community.
The US Indo-Pacific Command said the recent launches pose no immediate threat to US personnel or its allies. But the missile highlights the destabilizing effects of North Korea’s illegal weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile programs, the statement said.
North Korea has ramped up military tests in recent weeks, including the launch of multiple cruise missiles on Wednesday, which North Korea said was aimed at practicing a tactical nuclear strike.
Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said North Korea was likely to step up provocative activities, including a possible nuclear test.
U.S. and South Korean officials have warned for nearly a year that North Korea could conduct its first nuclear test since 2017.
North Korea said Friday it had tested a new nuclear-capable underwater attack drone after North Korean leader Kim Jong-un warned that joint military exercises by South Korea and the United States should be halted.
The allies concluded their regular spring exercise dubbed Freedom Shield 23 last week, but are continuing other field exercises, including amphibious landing exercises involving US amphibious assault ships and exercises with US aircraft carriers. .
North Korea has long teased its allies’ military exercises as preparations for an invasion of the north.
South Korea and the US say the exercises are defensive.
Reported by Soo-hyang Choi from Seoul and Mariko Katsumura from Tokyo.Editing by Cynthia Osterman, David Gregorio and Jerry Doyle
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