North Korea fired two ballistic missiles into its eastern sea, South Korea’s military said, hours after a U.S. nuclear-powered submarine arrived at a naval base in the South.
North Korea fired the missiles just before midnight from a location close to its capital, Pyongyang, in its third round of launches since last week, according to the Joint Chiefs of Staff of South Korea. Before touching down in the waters off the eastern coast of the Korean Peninsula, it was reported that both missiles had travelled about 400 kilometres (248 miles), AP reported.
The firing of two ballistic missiles by North Korea, according to Japan’s defence ministry, both landed outside of its exclusive economic zone was also reported.
The launches occur when tensions on the Korean peninsula are at an all-time high. South Korea and the United States are moving to improve their military readiness against North Korea’s weapons programmes by deploying strategic military assets from the United States.
North Korea reacted fiercely, saying that such a deployment may meet the requirements for using nuclear weapons, Reuters reported.
The United States said it was closely working with its allies on the destabilizing missile launches from North Korea.
The U.S. military stated on Monday that the launches did not immediately threaten US citizens and the territory of allies.
