Tokyo, 5 June, /AJMEDIA/
North Korea launched eight short-range ballistic missiles toward the Sea of Japan on Sunday, the South Korean military said, a day after South Korea and the United States ended joint drills involving a U.S. aircraft carrier in international waters off Okinawa, southern Japan.
Japanese Defense Minister Nobuo Kishi said North Korea had fired at least six ballistic missiles from three sites and they traveled 300 to 400 kilometers eastward.
The South’s military said the launches occurred from 9:08 a.m. to 9:43 a.m. from the Sunan area near the North’s capital Pyongyang.
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida condemned the launches, saying the government had lodged a protest with North Korea.
“We cannot tolerate such launches because they threaten the peace and stability of the international community,” Kishida told reporters in Fukushima Prefecture, northeast of Tokyo.
“We will continue our best efforts to collect information and conduct surveillance in close coordination with the United States and South Korea,” he said.
Kishida said the missiles landed outside Japan’s exclusive economic zone.
There were no reports of damage to ships or aircraft, according to the Japanese defense minister.
North Korea has fired a series of projectiles, including an intercontinental ballistic missile and two other missiles on May 25 just after U.S. President Joe Biden ended a trip to South Korea and Japan.
The launches came amid signs that Pyongyang is preparing to conduct a nuclear test for the first time since 2017.