North Korea launched what may be a ballistic missile into the East Sea near Japan on Saturday morning, according to South Korea’s military.
North Korea launched three ballistic missiles toward the East Sea near Japan on Saturday morning, according to U. S. and South Korean military.
The U. S. Pacific Command issued a statement shortly after the launch, saying that one of the missiles blew up within moments of launch. The other two appeared to have failed in-flight.
« U. S. Pacific Command detected and tracked what we assess were multiple North Korean ballistic missile launches, » the statement said. « The first and third missiles . failed in flight. The second missile launch appears to have blown up almost immediately. The three launches occurred near Kittaeryong, North Korea. »
It added, « We are working with our Interagency partners on a more detailed assessment and we will provide a public update if warranted. … We continue to monitor North Korea’s actions closely. »
The incident happened amid rising tensions between the U. S. and North Korea, which has been warned by President Trump about missile build-up and development of nuclear armaments.
North Korea’s military had threatened missile launches toward the U. S. territory of Guam, where the U. S. has several military installations. It’s unclear where the three missiles fired Saturday were targeted.
South Korean military leaders said the missiles were fired from a site in the eastern province of Gangwon. At least one of them flew about 250 miles before crashing into the sea, South Korean military leaders said.
« The military is keeping a tight surveillance over the North to cope with further provocations », the South Korean defense ministry said.
Contributing: Jim Michaels
