South Korea says North Korea has launched two ballistic missiles toward its eastern waters in its second show of force this week
SEOUL, South Korea -- North Korea test-fired two short-range ballistic missiles in another show of force Tuesday, a day after the United States and South Korea began military drills that Pyongyang views as an invasion rehearsal.
The missiles launched from the southwestern coastal town of Jangyon flew across North Korea before landing in the sea off that country’s east coast, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement. It said both missiles traveled about 620 kilometers (385 miles).
The reported flight distances suggest the missiles target South Korea, which hosts about 28,000 U.S. troops. South Korea's military called the launches “a grave provocation” that undermines stability on the Korean Peninsula.
The U.S. Indo-Pacific Command said Tuesday's launches don’t pose an immediate threat to its allies. But it said the North’s recent tests highlight the “destabilizing impact” of the North’s unlawful weapons programs and that the U.S. security commitment to South Korea and Japan remains “ironclad.”
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida told reporters that officials were still gathering details of the North Korean launches and there were no immediate reports of damage in Japanese waters.
Pyongyang could further escalate its weapons tests over the coming days in a tit-for-tat response to the allies’ military drills, which are planned to run until March 23. Last week, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un ordered his troops to be ready to repel what he called the “frantic war preparations moves” by his country’s rivals.
Worries about North Korea’s nuclear program have grown sharply after the North test-fired more than 70 missiles in 2022, many of them nuclear-capable weapons, and openly threatened to use them in potential conflicts with the United States and South Korea.
North Korea appears to be using long-stalled talks with Washington and the expanding U.S.-South Korean drills as a chance to enlarge its weapons arsenals to increase its leverage in future dealings with the United States.
The North Korean threats, along with China’s increasing assertiveness, have pushed the U.S. to seek to reinforce its alliances with South Korea and Japan. But some experts say a solidified Washington-Seoul-Tokyo cooperation could prompt Pyongyang, Beijing and Moscow to strengthen their own trilateral ties.
China and Russia, embroiled in separate confrontations with the U.S., have repeatedly blocked U.S. and its allies’ bids to toughen United Nations sanctions on North Korea.
The two countries have been expanding their drills as North Korean nuclear threats have been growing.
U.S.-South Korea drills will proceed normally, regardless of whether “North Korea tries to disrupt them with provocations like missile launches,” Jeon Ha Gyu, spokesperson of South Korea’s Defense Ministry, said Tuesday.