North Korea launched two ballistic missiles on Wednesday with one of them landing in Japanese waters, making it the country’s most recent act in defiance of the U.N Security Councils resolutions, according to Japanese, United States and South Korean officials.
U.S. Strategic Command said it detected two missiles being simultaneously launched on Wednesday morning.
The main portion of the missile landed in Japan’s economic exclusive zone, according to a Japanese defense official. This act raised tensions even higher between Japan and North Korea since several North Korean launches have occurred in recent months as well as the U.S. placement of defense anti-missile system known as THAAD, in South Korea.
South Korea’s Yonhap news agency reported that the Rodong missile was launched off of North Korea’s east coast from the region in South Hwanghae province around 7:50 am local time and travelled roughly 620 miles before landing in the Sea of Japan.
Japan said the missile landed roughly 155 miles west of the Oga Peninsula, which is inside of Japan’s economic exclusive zone, which is the 200 nautical miles of ocean surrounding a country in which it has jurisdiction over resources such as fish and oil.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe condemned the launch, calling it a “grave threat to our country’s security,” the Kyodo news agency reported.
An official at South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said the launch showed North Korea’s “ambition to attack neighboring countries”
The launch is in direct violation of the U.N. Security council’s resolution that prohibits the country from firing ballistic missiles.
This launch comes just weeks after North Korea conducted another missile test on July 19, where three ballistic missiles were fired into the sea on the country’s east coast.
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