North Korea launched several short-range ballistic missiles towards its east coast on Saturday, a day after the United States, South Korea and Japan concluded joint military exercises that Pyongyang considers a threat to its security.
The missiles were launched from the Wonsan area on North Korea’s east coast at around 5:20 a.m., South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a text message. The missiles traveled about 250 kilometers (155 miles) and South Korea and the United States are conducting a detailed analysis of their exact characteristics, the Joint Chiefs of Staff added.
The military said it had stepped up surveillance and preparedness for possible additional launches, and was sharing information closely with the United States and Japan.
According to a separate statement, the South Korea National Security Office called an emergency meeting to review the security situation. South Korea urged North Korea to immediately stop ballistic missile launches, calling them a serious violation of UN Security Council resolutions. UN.
On the other hand, the United States Pacific Command declared that he was aware of the incident and that there was no immediate threat to the United States and its allies.
These launches increase tensions on the Korean Peninsula, while the president donald trump seeks to reactivate diplomacy with the North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and, at the same time, maintain security cooperation with Washington’s two key Asian allies.
These maneuvers occurred just hours after the three allies concluded the five-day Freedom Edge exercise, which lasted until Friday in international waters east and south of the South Korean island of Jeju. The goal of the exercises was to improve their ability to jointly respond to North Korea’s nuclear and missile threats.
North Korea harshly criticized the exercises. The Minister of Defense, Kim Song Gi, He warned at the beginning of the maneuvers that Pyongyang would take “firm and forceful countermeasures” if the United States and its allies provoked a military confrontation. Pyongyang has long characterized joint exercises with Washington as rehearsals for an invasion, while the United States and its allies say they are defensive exercises.
The latest military exercises were carried out even after trump ordered the United States and South Korea to scale back their bilateral Ulchi Freedom Shield exercise last month, a move widely interpreted as an attempt to make room for the resumption of diplomatic talks with Pyongyang. Trump has declared that he wants to resume dialogue with Kim, with whom he had three meetings during his first term.
The missile launches follow North Korea’s unveiling this month of its second 5,000-ton destroyer as part of the Kim to expand the country’s naval and nuclear capabilities. Kim attended the Kang Kon commissioning ceremony in Wonsan and pledged to further strengthen the country’s nuclear forces.
