North Korea launches multiple ballistic missiles into the Sea of ​​Japan; Seen in response to a failed satellite launch

North Korea fired multiple ballistic missiles on Thursday morning, all of which are believed to have fallen outside Japan’s exclusive economic zone into the Sea of ​​Japan, the Defense Ministry said the same day.

The rockets were fired inland towards the northeast at 6:13 am. More than 10 missiles were fired, according to the South Korean military’s Joint Chiefs of Staff.

The Defense Department said at least one of the missiles reached a maximum altitude of about 60 miles (100 kilometers) and traveled a distance of more than 220 miles (350 kilometers).

No damage to aircraft or ships has been confirmed so far, the report said.

South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff announced that the launch took place from the Sunan area in the northern part of Pyongyang.

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida condemned North Korea, saying: “The launch of ballistic missiles is a violation of the country’s [U.N. Security Council] resolutions.” His government is gathering information and monitoring the situation and plans to cooperate with the United States and South Korea, he told reporters at the prime minister’s office.

The government protested to North Korea through its embassy channel in Beijing.

Diplomatic authorities from Japan, the United States and South Korea held a three-way phone call on Thursday morning and confirmed that the three countries would continue to work together.

Yukiya Hamamoto, Deputy Director General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Bureau of Asian and Oceanic Affairs; Jung Pak, a senior US State Department official on North Korea; and Lee Joon-il, South Korea’s director general for North Korean nuclear affairs, attended the conference call.

Observers believe North Korea fired at least 10 missiles simultaneously in an attempt to show off the missiles’ ability to evade interception. South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency reported that it was unusual for North Korea to fire so many projectiles at once.

Over the course of one day in November 2022, Pyongyang fired at least twenty ballistic and other short-range missiles toward the Sea of ​​Japan and the Yellow Sea on the western side of the Korean Peninsula. North Korea had also fired eight short-range ballistic missiles into the Sea of ​​Japan within a period of about 35 minutes on June 5 that year.

North Korea’s Korean Central News Agency reported Tuesday that the launch of a military reconnaissance satellite the previous day had ended in failure. Given that a plenary meeting of the ruling Workers’ Party’s Central Committee is set to take place in late June, the Japanese and South Korean governments have been wary of the possibility that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un could make further moves in the aftermath could initiate provocations. failed one-week launch.

Thursday’s salvo of launches marks the fifth time North Korea has fired ballistic missiles this year, according to the Defense Ministry.