S. Korea: North Test-Fires Handful Of 'Unknown Projectiles' Into Japan Waters

Enlarge this image toggle caption Kim Won-Jin/AFP/Getty Images Kim Won-Jin/AFP/Getty Images

South Korea's military says North Korea has test-fired a handful of "unknown projectiles" off its west coast into its east coast waters, further rattling an already uncertain situation on the Korean peninsula under ongoing political drift in Seoul and a new American administration.

The projectiles were launched from near one of the North's known missile bases of Tongchang-ri at 7:36 a.m. local time, or 5:36 p.m. Sunday (EST). South Korea believes at least one of the missiles flew 1,000 km, or about 620 miles. That's twice the distance as the North's most recent missile test, in February.

"North Korea has ignored South Korea and the international community's constant warnings," said Hwang Kyo-ahn, South Korea's acting president, in a statement. "This shows the North's nuclear and missile provocations are a real and imminent threat to our people's safety."

Japan's government says it counted four missiles landing in the Sea of Japan, the body of water between Korea and Japan. It says three of them fell in Japan's exclusive economic zone.

"Launching missiles at this time shows clearly that North Korea has become a new menace for Japan," said Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, before saying he will head to a meeting of the Japanese National Security Council later today.

The U.S. military also said it detected the launch. U.S. Strategic Command spokesman Lt. Col. Martin O'Donnell said U.S. forces "remain vigilant in the face of North Korean provocations and are fully committed to working closely with our Republic of Korea and Japanese allies to maintain security."

These missile tests are banned by the U.N. Security Council, but North Korea frequently flouts the rules. Monday's test marks the second such firing of 2017. Last year, it fired missiles 24 times, launched a rocket (largely viewed as a trial for an intercontinental ballistic missile) in February and tested nuclear devices twice.

Longtime military analyst Daniel Pinkston, lecturer in international relations at Troy University, says he is concerned not only by the missile tests but also the recent assassination of leader Kim Jong Un's half-brother in Malaysia, using a banned nerve agent. Malaysian authorities blame North Korea for his death.

"If they don't pay a price for this behavior," Pinkston said, "and I think they should pay a high price, then they will continue with it."

The latest test comes against a backdrop that's both routine — annual March military drills staged by the U.S. and South Korea that Pyongyang sees as war prep — and unfamiliar. The new Trump administration's policy on North Korea is unclear, at best, and South Korea is in a leadership vacuum as an acting president runs day-to-day affairs in the country. The elected president, Park Geun-hye, was impeached by lawmakers on Dec. 9 and stripped of her powers. Whether she keeps her job is up to a court to decide, likely before the end of this month.

Jihye Lee contributed to this post from Seoul. Akane Saiki contributed from Tokyo. </s> The Latest on North Korea firing short-range missiles into the sea (all times local):

Japan's Defense Minister Takeshi Iwaya says North Korea's missile test launches are probably a violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions.

Iwaya told reporters Japan is still analyzing what type of missiles North Korea fired into the sea early Thursday. South Korea's military says they were two short-range missiles, leading some observers to suggest they were not a major provocation but rather the North's warning of what may happen if the nuclear negotiations with the U.S. fail.

Iwaya says, "If they were ballistic missiles, they violate the U.N. sanctions, and I find it extremely regrettable."

Japan's Defense Ministry says it has not found any flying objects reaching the Japanese territory or its 200-mile exclusive economic zone from the North Korean launch of two short-range missiles.

The ministry has not detected signs that Thursday morning's missile launches posed any immediate threat to Japan's national security.

South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff says the missiles fired from around the North's eastern coastal town of Wonsan flew about 430 kilometers (270 miles) before landing in the waters off the country's east coast.

South Korea says North Korea has launched two identified projectiles into the sea off its east coast.

The South's Joint Chiefs of Staff said the projectile launch came from an area near the eastern city of Wonsan on Thursday.

It said the projectiles flew 430 kilometers. </s> North Korea has reportedly fired a ballistic missile, in the first test since Donald Trump took office as US president.

The ballistic missile was launched on Sunday morning and reached an altitude of about 550 kilometers, according to a South Korean military source.

Japanese officials said that the missile did not reach its waters.

Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said the test was “absolutely intolerable” while President Trump assured the visiting Japanese PM that Washington was committed to the security of its key Asian ally.

South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement that the missile had been fired from around Banghyon, in North Pyongan Province, which is where South Korean officials have said the North test-launched its powerful mid-range Musudan missile on October 15 and 20 last year.

The latest missile flew about 500 kilometers and is believed to have fallen into the sea between the Korean Peninsula and Japan.

Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told reporters that the missile did not hit Japanese territorial waters.

South Korea’s Acting President and Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn has threatened to punish North Korea over the move.

According to the South Korean Foreign Ministry, Seoul would make new efforts with its allies, including the US and Japan, to toughen sanctions against the North and make the country realize that it will “never be able to survive” without discarding all of its nuclear and missile programs.

North Korea faced global condemnations and international sanctions following two nuclear tests and a slew of rocket launches last year.

North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-un announced in a 2017 New Year address to the country that the North Korean military was almost ready to test an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM).

Pyongyang says it is developing its missile and nuclear programs as deterrence against the United States. It says it will not abandon the programs unless the US ends hostilities toward the country. </s> North Korea on Monday fired an apparent short-range ballistic missile that is believed to have fallen into Japan’s exclusive economic zone — a move that prompted Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to vow “concrete measures” in response.

The U.S. Pacific Command said in a statement later the same day that it had detected the launch of “a short-range ballistic missile” near the eastern coastal city of Wonsan, adding that it had tracked the missile for six minutes until it landed in the Sea of Japan.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told an emergency news conference early Monday that the missile, launched at around 5:40 a.m., is “believed to have landed in Japan’s exclusive economic zone,” which extends 200 nautical miles (370 km) from its coast, into the Sea of Japan.

Suga said the missile was estimated to have landed some 300 km off Shimane Prefecture’s Oki Islands. He said there were no reports of damage to planes or vessels in the area, adding that Japan filed a protest with North Korea, using “the strongest wording” possible to condemn the move.

“The firing of the ballistic missile . . . clearly violates resolutions adopted by the United Nations Security Council,” Suga said.

A top North Korean official told the BBC in April that the country will continue to test missiles despite international condemnation and growing military tensions with the U.S. and its allies.

“We’ll be conducting more missile tests on a weekly, monthly and yearly basis,” Vice Foreign Minister Han Song Ryol said at the time.

Monday’s test was the third launch in as many weeks.

While weekly missile tests might put a strain on the regime, regular launches could become a “new normal,” according to Shea Cotton, a research associate at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies in California.

“I think this might become the new normal where North Korea tests a missile regularly,” Cotton said. “Perhaps not every week but maybe every two weeks. At least until something changes like some sort of diplomatic settlement or deal.”

Meeting with reporters at the Prime Minister’s Office on Monday, Abe said that Tokyo will “never tolerate” Pyongyang’s repeated provocations.

“To deter North Korea, we, together with the United States, will take concrete actions,” Abe said. He did not elaborate.

Abe said leaders of the Group of Seven developed nations, who wrapped up their annual meeting in Taormina, Sicily, on Saturday, have agreed that the North Korean issue is “one of the top-priority issues of the international community.”

At the summit, Abe also called for China and Russia to effectively use their influence with the North to rein in the isolated nation.

Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida said Monday that he and U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson agreed in a 25-minute telephone conference that Tokyo and Washington will further ramp up pressure on China and Russia to play a larger role in curbing Pyongyang’s nuclear and missile ambitions. He didn’t elaborate, however, on what specific actions he expects from the two nations.

Meanwhile, Defense Minister Tomomi Inada said the ministry believes the missile — judging from the 400-km distance it flew — was a Scud or Scud variant. The ministry estimated that it had hit a maximum altitude of about 100 km.

“There is nothing about the way the missile flew that suggested its trajectory was in any way extraordinary,” Inada, said, ruling out the possibility it had been tested on either a “depressed” or “lofted” trajectory.

In an apparent bid to tout its quick response time, the Japanese government said that notification that the missile could fall into the EEZ came just 35 minutes after its launch, Kyodo News reported. It took Tokyo about 90 minutes on May 21 and 75 minutes on May 14 for the Defense Ministry to release information on those launches.

The launch also came the same day as China’s top diplomat, Yang Jiechi, arrived in Japan for a three-day visit. He was scheduled to speak with Shotaro Yachi, head of the National Security Council, on Monday, according to Kyodo, with the launch likely to top their discussions.

Monday’s launch marked the 12th test-firing by the nuclear-armed country this year. It was the first time since early March that a North Korean missile has fallen within Japan’s EEZ and the fourth time in total. On March 6, three of four Scud ER (extended-range) missiles fired by the country landed inside the zone.

North Korean state-run media said those launches were part of rehearsal for striking U.S. military bases in Japan. Analysts said that the hypothetical target of that drill was U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni in Yamaguchi Prefecture.

The North’s Scuds, which use liquid fuel, are known to have a range of 300-500 km. But it has recently developed the Scud-ER, which is capable of traveling up to 1,000 km, putting parts of Japan within range.

North Korea last test-fired a ballistic missile just eight days ago from an east coast site and on Sunday said it had tested a new anti-aircraft weapon supervised by leader Kim Jong Un.

Pyongyang said the May 21 test of the Pukguksong-2, a solid-fuel, medium-range missile capable of striking most of Japan, was “perfect” and that the weapon was ready to be deployed “for action.”

Abe characterized that launch as a “challenge to the world.”

Pyongyang, undeterred by multiple UNSC sanctions resolutions over its nuclear weapons and missile programs, continues to defy the international community with atomic and rocket tests.

There has been mounting speculation that Pyongyang will conduct a test of an intercontinental ballistic missile, suggested by a New Year’s Day address in which the North Korean leader claimed that the country was in the “final stages” of developing such a weapon.

U.S. President Donald Trump has vowed that a launch of an ICBM by Pyongyang “won’t happen” on his watch.

Staff writer Reiji Yoshida contributed to this report </s> SEOUL, Korea, Republic Of — South Korea’s military said North Korea fired an unidentified missile Friday from its capital Pyongyang that flew over Japan before landing in the northern Pacific Ocean.

It was the second aggressive test-flight over the territory of the close U.S. ally in less than a month and it followed the sixth and most powerful nuclear test by North Korea to date on Sept. 3.

South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said the missile travelled about 3,700 kilometres (2,300 miles) while reaching a maximum height of 770 kilometres (478 miles).

The missile was launched from Sunan, the site of Pyongyang’s international airport.

North Korea last month used the airport to fire a Hwasong-12 intermediate range missile that flew over northern Japan.

The North then declared it a “meaningful prelude” to containing the U.S. Pacific island territory of Guam and the start of more ballistic missile launches toward the Pacific Ocean.

Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga denounced North Korea’s latest launch, saying he was conveying “strong anger” on behalf of the Japanese people.

Suga said Japan “will not tolerate the repeated and excessive provocations.”

The North American Aerospace Defence Command determined the intermediate range missile did not pose a threat to North America. In addition, U.S. Pacific Command said it did not pose a threat to Guam.

South Korean experts said the August launch was Pyongyang’s attempt to make missiles flying over Japan an accepted norm as it seeks to test new missiles and win more military space in the region dominated by its enemies.

The Offices of Guam Homeland Security and Civil Defence said the latest launch posed no immediate threat to Guam or the Marianas.

South Korea’s Defence Ministry said the country’s military conducted a live-fire drill of a Hyunmoo-2 ballistic missile in response to the North’s launch on Friday.

Seoul’s presidential office said President Moon Jae-in has scheduled a National Security Council meeting to discuss the latest launch.

North Korea claimed its latest nuclear test was a detonation of a thermonuclear weapon built for its developmental intercontinental ballistic missiles.

The North flight-tested its Hwasong-14 ICBMs twice in July and analysts say the missiles potentially could reach deep into the U.S. mainland when perfected.

North Korea initially flight-tested the Hwasong-12 and Hwasong-14 missiles at highly lofted angles to reduce range and avoid neighbouring countries.

The two launches over Japan indicate North Korea is moving toward conducting launches at angles close to operational as it seeks to test whether the warheads survive the harsh conditions of atmospheric re-entry and detonate properly.

North Korea has been accelerating its nuclear weapons development under leader Kim Jong Un, a third-generation dictator in his 30s, who has conducted four of North Korea’s six nuclear tests since taking power in 2011.

His military has maintained a torrid pace in testing weapons, which also include solid-fuel missiles designed to be launched from road mobile launchers or submarines.

In his aggressive pursuit of nuclear weapons, Kim is seen as seeking a real nuclear deterrent to help ensure the survival of his government and also the stronger bargaining power that would come from it.

North Korea’s latest missile launch came days after the U.N. Security Council unanimously approved new sanctions over the nuclear test. The latest sanctions are not as tough as what the U.S. had sought, they are expected to have a significant impact.

AP writer Mari Yamaguchi contributed to this report from Tokyo. </s> SEOUL, Korea, Republic Of — The South Korean news agency says North Korea fired an unidentified missile on Tuesday.

Yonhap said the missile was fired into the East Sea, also known as the Sea of Japan.

North Korea has conducted a series of test launches to develop its missile capability and recently threatened to send missiles over western Japan and into waters near the U.S. territory of Guam.

Japan’s military is practicing deploying anti-missile batteries at three U.S. bases in Japan.

The U.S. military says the drills will test the ability of Japanese and U.S. forces to work together and assess firing locations at the bases. They will also allow Japan to practice rapid deployment of its PAC-3 anti-missile system. </s> (CNN) North Korea launched a ballistic missile test Monday, its third in less than three weeks.

The short-range ballistic missile traveled an estimated 248 miles, splashing down within Japan's exclusive economic zone, an area of sea where commercial ships are known to operate, according to statements from both the Japanese government and the South Korean military.

South Korea and Japan immediately issued strong protests, with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe promising "concrete action" in response to the test, and South Korean defense chiefs saying the North would face "strong punishment from our military."

What it's really like to be inside North Korea

What it's really like to be inside North Korea 01:40

What it's really like to be inside North Korea

North Korea has fired 12 missiles during nine tests so far in 2017 -- this compares with 10 missile launches in the same time period in 2016

Analysts say all of North Korea's tests, successful or not, provide information that help bring it closer to its goal of building a missile that could reach the US.

That the missile landed within 200 nautical miles of the Japanese coast was an "extremely problematic act for the safety of airplanes and ships" Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said in a statement. The launch, read the statement, "is clearly violating the UN resolution. The repeated provocative acts by North Korea is absolutely not acceptable."

The Japanese Prime Minister said a "firm protest" was lodged with North Korea and that Tokyo would take action "together with the United States." Analysts say Japan's options for dealing with North Korea unilaterally are limited.

Tokyo couldn't carry out a military response alone, said Carl Schuster, a Hawaii Pacific University professor and former director of operations at the US Pacific Command's Joint Intelligence Center.

"Japan lacks the ballistic missiles, intelligence, targeting and reconnaissance assets, or electronic warfare and air defense suppression capability required to carry out any effective military response," Schuster said.

However, Japan could do some things that might hurt North Korea economically, he said, such as stopping and searching North Korean merchant and fishing vessels in Japanese waters.

No red lines

The government of South Korean President Moon Jae-in, who took office in early May and who has advocated dialogue with the North, condemned Monday's launch.

"It is a severe threat to the peace and stability of not only the Korean Peninsula, but also the international community," said a statement from South Korea's Ministry of Foreign Affairs. "Since our new government took office, North Korea has been frequently and repeatedly conducting provocation in such manner. This is in direct opposition to our demands in regards to the denuclearization and peace of the Korean Peninsula."

"North Korea's continuous provocative actions will cause its own isolation and it will be facing strong punishment from our military, South Korea and US alliance and the international community," a statement from South Korea's Joint Chiefs said.

JUST WATCHED How much damage can North Korea's weapons do? Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH How much damage can North Korea's weapons do? 01:04

Despite that rhetoric, the allies have not given North Korea any "red lines" which it cannot cross or face a military strike, said Adam Mount, senior fellow at the Center for American Progress.

"If they're not clear on what they are attempting to deter, they're not going to have the effect they desire," Mount said.

Even if a military response was considered, the repercussions could be catastrophic.

"If this goes to a military solution, it is going to be tragic on an unbelievable scale," US Defense Secretary James Mattis said earlier this month.

Any pre-emptive military strike on North Korea would put South Korean and Japanese civilian populations, as well as US military installations within those countries, at risk for a North Korean counterstrike. Some estimates put 25 million civilians at risk in the Seoul metropolitan area alone.

Testing continues

Current economic sanctions imposed by the United Nations and others seem to have done nothing to slow North Korea's missile program.

On May 14, North Korea fired what analysts called its most successful test ever in its quest to develop ballistic missiles that can carry nuclear warheads.

That test reached an altitude of more than 2,100 kilometers (1,300 miles), according to North Korea. Analysts said that test gave North Korea critical information on developing a re-entry vehicle for nuclear warheads and showed Pyongyang had a missile capable of striking the US territory of Guam.

On May 21, Pyongyang sent a medium-range ballistic missile into the waters off its east coast. North Korea said that projectile was a ground-to-ground strategic ballistic missile Pukguksong-2, state news agency KCNA reported.

JUST WATCHED North Korea launches second missile in a week Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH North Korea launches second missile in a week 00:42

Key timing

As with a number of previous North Korean tests, the timing of Monday's launch came close to a key international event.

Less than two days earlier, Japan's Prime Minister met with US President Donald Trump and five other leaders from some of the world's most powerful countries at the G7 summit in Italy.

In their final communiqué, Abe and Trump -- along with the leaders of Canada, France, Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom -- said North Korea "increasingly poses new levels of threat of a grave nature to international peace and stability ... through its repeated and ongoing breaches of international law."

North Korea has shown great disrespect for their neighbor, China, by shooting off yet another ballistic missile...but China is trying hard! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 29, 2017

North Korea's May 14 test came as China was hosting a major economic summit in Beijing. In early April, Pyongyang tested a missile as Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping prepared to meet at a summit in Florida.

In a statement, China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Beijing urged North Korea to "refrain from any action contrary to UN Security Council resolutions."

Echoing language used in the past, the statement added the situation on the Korean peninsula "is complex and sensitive."

"We hope all parties remain calm and exercise restraint ... and put the peninsula back on the track of peaceful talks," it said.

North Korea has said its missile testing is in reaction to threats against it by the South, the United States and Japan. </s> Seoul, South Korea | AFP | North Korea test-fired a missile Monday into Japan’s maritime economic zone — the latest in a series of provocative launches that have ratcheted up tensions over its nuclear weapons ambitions.

It was the North’s third ballistic missile test in as many weeks and the 12th this year -– carried out in defiance of UN sanctions warnings and US threats of possible military action.

US military monitors said the short-range missile flew for six minutes, while Japan said it fell into the country’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) — waters extending 200 nautical miles from its coast.

The launch comes in fresh defiance of tough talk from US President Donald Trump, who promised last week at the G7 summit that the “big problem” of North Korea “will be solved”.

Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe swiftly condemned the test and vowed concerted action along with its US ally.

“We will never tolerate North Korea’s continued provocations that ignore repeated warnings by the international community,” Abe told reporters.

“As agreed during the G7 summit, the North Korean problem is the international community’s top priority. In order to deter North Korea, we will take concrete action with the United States.”

The North has been stepping up efforts towards its ultimate goal — developing an intercontinental ballistic missile that can deliver a nuclear warhead to the continental US.

The isolated but nuclear-armed North has test-fired a missile almost every week for the past three weeks.

The latest, a short-range Scud, flew about 450 kilometres (280 miles) before landing in the Sea of Japan (East Sea) between the Korean peninsula and Japan, the US Pacific Command said.

Monday’s test also marked the second time this year that a North Korean missile fell provocatively close to its neighbour Japan.

Despite Trump’s strident warnings, Secretary of Defense James Mattis said in an interview that aired Sunday before the launch that a war with North Korea would be “catastrophic.”

“The North Korean regime has hundreds of artillery cannons and rocket launchers within range of one of the most densely populated cities on Earth, which is the capital of South Korea,” he told CBS News.

“This regime is a threat to the region, to Japan, to South Korea. And in the event of war, they would bring danger to China and to Russia as well.

“But the bottom line is, it would be a catastrophic war if this turns into a combat, if we’re not able to resolve this situation through diplomatic means.”

Mattis declined to say what kind of action from Pyongyang would constitute a “red line” for Washington, saying the administration needs “political manoeuvre room.”

South Korea’s new president, Moon Jae-In, ordered a meeting of the national security council to assess the launch, which came a day after North Korea said its leader Kim Jong-Un had overseen a test of a new anti-aircraft weapons system.

The South condemned the test as a “grave threat” and a challenge to the new leader who advocates dialogue with the North in a break from his conservative predecessors.

“That the North repeated such provocations after the inauguration of our new leadership… is a direct challenge to our demand for peace and denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula,” the foreign ministry said.

The missile launches, and Pyongyang’s threat to stage its sixth nuclear test, have prompted calls for tougher UN sanctions and a warning from Trump that military intervention was an option under consideration.

Following North Korea’s test-firing of what analysts said was its longest-range rocket yet earlier this month, the UN Security Council vowed to push all countries to tighten sanctions against Pyongyang.

But China, the North’s main trade partner and ally, has made it clear that the push for diplomatic talks — and not imposing more sanctions — is the priority.

The US has said it is willing to enter into talks with North Korea — but only if it halts its missile and nuclear tests.

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Also, Like us on facebook </s> A file picture of the second test-fire of ICBM Hwasong-14 at an undisclosed location in North Korea, on July 28, 2017.

[SEOUL] North Korea early on Friday fired an unidentified missile eastward from the Sunan district in its capital, Pyongyang, South Korea's military said.

The South Korean and US militaries were analysing details of the launch, the South's Office of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said.

The missile has flown over Japan, Japan's NHK television said.

The North's launch comes a day after the North threatened to sink Japan and reduce the United States to "ashes and darkness"for supporting a UN Security Council resolution imposing new sanctions against it for its Sept 3 nuclear test.

The North previously launched a ballistic missile from Sunan on Aug 29 which flew over Japan's Hokkaido island and landed in the Pacific waters.
North Korea tests two new missiles that land in the Sea of Japan, though not within Japanese territory. Japanese Defense Minister Takeshi Iwaya condemns the testing as "extremely regrettable".