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North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles into the sea on Thursday in the direction of Japan, after the return of a U.S. aircraft carrier to the region and a U.N. Security Council meeting in response to the North’s recent launches.
The missile launch was the sixth in 12 days and the first since North Korea fired an intermediate-range missile (IRBM) over Japan on Tuesday, which prompted joint South Korean and U.S. missile drills during which one weapon crashed and burned.
The launch was reported by South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff and the Japanese government.
“This is the sixth time in the short period, just counting the ones from the end of September,” Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida told reporters. “This absolutely cannot be tolerated.”
The launch came about an hour after North Korea condemned the United States for talking to the United Nations Security Council about Pyongyang’s “just counteraction measures of the Korean People’s Army on south Korea-U.S. joint drills,” suggesting its missile tests are a reaction to the allied military moves.
In a statement released by the reclusive nation’s foreign ministry, North Korea also condemned Washington for repositioning a U.S. aircraft carrier off the Korean peninsula, saying it posed a serious threat to the stability of the situation.
The USS Ronald Reagan and its strike group of accompanying warships was abruptly redeployed in response to North Korea’s IRBM launch over Japan.
The United States condemned Thursday’s launch, a State Department spokesperson said, calling it a violation of the United Nations Security Council resolutions and a threat to regional neighbors and the international community.
