North Korea fired eight ballistic missiles in two weeks in a climate of heightened tensions with Washington, according to the South Korean army which recorded two new shots overnight from Saturday to Sunday. Earlier Saturday, Pyongyang had defended its recent increase in ballistic activity as a “legitimate reaction” to “direct military threats from the United States”, while WashingtonSeoul and Tokyo see in these missile launches a “serious threat to peace and security”.
In the night, Pyongyang fired two of these devices towards the sea, announced the South Korean army, quoted by the news agency Yonhap. Citing the Japanese government, the Japanese agency Kyodo specified that the two missiles had been fired in the direction of the Sea of Japan and that they appeared to have fallen outside the exclusive economic zone of the Japan.
Maximum voltage
According to the country’s coastguard, no damage to a Japanese vessel has been reported, Japanese broadcaster NHK said. These are the seventh and eighth such firings in two weeks, and they come amid growing tensions with the United States, which over the same period intensified its joint military exercises with Seoul and Tokyo.
“While reinforcing its surveillance and vigilance, our army remains ready to go into action immediately, in close cooperation with the UNITED STATES “Reacted the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff in a press release quoted by Yonhap.