North Korea fired multiple short-range ballistic missiles off its east coast on Tuesday, South Korea’s military said, marking Pyongyang’s latest show of force just days ahead of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s return to office.
The missiles travelled about 250 km (155 miles) after lifting off at around 09:30 am (0030 GMT) from Kanggye, Jagang Province, near the country’s border with China, Seoul’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said.
“We strongly condemn the launch as a clear provocation that seriously threatens the peace and stability of the Korean peninsula,” the JCS said, warning the North against “misjudging” the situation and vowing to “overwhelmingly respond” to any additional provocations.
South Korea’s Acting President Choi Sang-mok also condemned the launch as a violation of United Nations Security Council resolutions and said Seoul would sternly respond to North Korea’s provocations, according to Reuters.
Seoul’s presidential office said its national security council held a meeting to review the situation and pledged an airtight posture.
The U.S. Indo-Pacific Command condemned the test, urging Pyongyang to refrain from further unlawful and destabilizing acts.
Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said he was aware of the missile test, and Tokyo was taking all possible measures to respond through close cooperation with Washington and Seoul, including real-time sharing of missile warning data.
The launch came about a week after the North fired what it claimed was a new intermediate-range hypersonic ballistic missile, which was its first missile test since Nov. 5.
The latest missile firing also occurred during a visit to Seoul by Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya.
South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul and Iwaya condemned the North’s nuclear and missile development on Monday and pledged to boost security ties following talks in Seoul.
