On Sunday, North Korea conducted a test launch of two ballistic missiles that might potentially strike Japan. This may have been done to protest Tokyo’s decision to embrace a new security plan that would encourage the United States to take a more aggressive stance against North Korea and China.
The launches took place two days after the North asserted to have completed a crucial test required to construct a more mobile, potent intercontinental ballistic missile intended to hit the U.S. mainland.
According to the South Korean and Japanese governments, the two missiles left the country’s northwest Tongchangri region and travelled around 500 kilometres (310 miles) at a maximum height of 550 kilometres (340 miles) before splashing down in the oceans between the Korean Peninsula and Japan.
Both missiles were classified by South Korea’s military as medium-range weapons that were shot at a steep angle, indicating that they could have travelled further if they had been launched along a straight trajectory.
Although it flew an intermediate-range missile over Japan in October, prompting Tokyo to issue evacuation notices and halt trains, North Korea typically conducts medium- and longer-range missile tests at a high angle to avoid surrounding countries.
Top South Korean security officials condemned North Korea’s ongoing provocations in a meeting called an emergency, saying they occurred despite “the plight of its citizens moaning in hunger and cold due to a serious food shortage.”
According to the South Korean presidential office, they stated that South Korea will strengthen its trilateral security cooperation with the United States and Japan.
