Japan warned on Saturday that the new North Korean projectiles have trajectories that are not typical for conventional ballistic missiles which makes it difficult to intercept them.

The new North Korean projectiles had irregular trajectories and flew at lower altitudes than conventional ballistic missiles which makes it difficult to intercept them, the Japanese Defense Ministry said, as quoted by the NHK broadcaster.

With that, the defense officials acknowledged that this type of projectiles could reach Japan as, based on findings of the US and South Korean military, the ones launched on Thursday flew about 600 km (373 miles), the report added.

According to the broadcaster, Japan is determined to work out appropriate countermeasures in close collaboration with the United States.

On Thursday, North Korea fired two projectiles from an area close to its coastal city of Wonsan. South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff subsequently said that the launches were of two short-range missiles that flew around 267 miles at an altitude of 31 miles before falling into the Sea of Japan.

On Friday, North Korea’s state-run media reported that the launches were tests of a new tactical guided weapon and were observed by leader Kim Jong-un.

The reports come less than a month after Kim and US President Donald Trump met in the Korean demilitarized zone and agreed to restart denuclearization talks.

Source: Sputnik </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> "North Korea fired an unidentified missile eastward from the vicinity of Pyongyang this morning," the JCS said . The missile reached an altitude of 770 km and covered a distance of 3,700 km before falling into the ocean, according to South Korea's military.The South Korean and US militaries are analyzing details of the launch, Reuters reports.NHK Television urged residents in Hokkaido and Tohoku regions to take shelter as the projectile passed over Japanese airspace near Hokkaido at around 7.06am local time.Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary told reporters the missile was likely "the same as before," referring to the August 29 launch over Japan. Yoshihide Suga condemned Pyongyang's missile test "in the strongest words," saying the missile passed over Hokkaido and fell into the Pacific Ocean, roughly 2,000 kilometers east of Arimori Cape.The Japanese government did not try to destroy the missile, according to reports. There's been no news of damage to aircraft and sailing vessels, or falling objects onto Japanese territory.Japan's Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe, however, issued instructions to prepare for unforeseen circumstances by communicating prompt and accurate information to citizens.The North Korean launch comes shortly after South Korea staged a ballistic missile training drill in the Sea of Japan. The South Korean president has been notified and has immediately convened a National Security Council meeting.Just prior to the launch, Pyongyang warned that it was time to "annihilate" the US, to "sink" Japan and to "wipe out" South Korea following the adoption of a new UN Security Council sanctions resolution this week, in response to the regime's recent nuclear test.The 15-member United Nations Security Council (UNSC) unanimously approved a new round of sanctions Monday, targeting North Korea's textile exports and its oil imports.On August 29, North Korea launched a ballistic missile over Northern Japan. The Hwasong-12 intermediate-range ballistic missile is believed to have flown about 1,700 miles (2,735km) and reached a height of 341 miles (548km) before falling into the Pacific Ocean.After a number of last minute compromises, China and Russia supported the latest round of sanctions against Pyongyang Monday. While strongly condemning North Korea's actions, Moscow and Beijing continue to insist on the implementation of the so-called "double-freeze" proposal, which calls for Pyongyang to suspend its nuclear and ballistic missile tests in exchange for a halt to joint US-South Korea military drills.Tensions on the Korean Peninsula are rapidly mounting with North Korea defiantly continuing its missile and nuclear tests and the US, South Korean and Japanese militaries regularly holding drills in the region, accompanied by strong rhetoric by Washington. Pyongyang says the boosting of its missile and nuclear program is justified as its only means of defense should these military maneuvers escalate into a direct confrontation. </s> 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 fired three short-range ballistic missiles Saturday, the US military said, following weeks of heightened tensions between Washington and Pyongyang.

The missile launches come as tens of thousands of South Korean and US troops take part in joint military drills in the South, which Pyongyang views as a highly provocative rehearsal for an invasion of its own territory.

Two of the missiles failed in flight and the third blew up "almost immediately", said a spokesman for US Pacific Command.

None of the missiles, which were launched near Kittaeryong, had posed a threat to either North America or the US Pacific territory of Guam, the spokesman said.

"The first and third missiles... failed in flight. The second missile launch... appears to have blown up almost immediately," said the spokesman, Commander Dave Benham, adding that the launches happened over a span of 30 minutes.

Yoshihide Suga, the Japanese government's top spokesman, told reporters in Tokyo Saturday morning: "We confirmed that no ballistic missiles have fallen onto our country's territory or EEZ (exclusive economic zone)."

"We confirmed there was no direct impact on our country's security. Our prime minister told us to remain on high alert and do our best to respond to any situations in order to protect our people's lives and property."

The launches came as North Korea state media reported that leader Kim Jong-Un oversaw a military exercise simulating a special forces assault on South Korean border islands involving aircraft, "multiple-missile launchers" and howitzers.

Shells hit islands standing in for South Korea's Paekryong and Taeyonphyong islands while special forces landed in rubber boats or parachuted in and "wiped out the desperate enemy with various combat methods," the Korean Central News Agency said.

"Kim Jong-Un expressed great satisfaction over the successful target-striking contest," it said.

South Korea's defence ministry said "unidentified projectiles", fired at 6:49 am (2149 GMT Friday), flew some 250 kilometres (155 miles) towards the Sea of Japan.

The North's move was immediately reported to South Korean President Moon Jae-in.

"The military is keeping a tight surveillance over the North to cope with further provocations", the ministry added.

The North tends to carry out test-firing of missiles or other projectiles -- including those from long-range multiple rocket launchers -- in response to the US-South Korea joint military exercises.

The "Ulchi Freedom Guardian" war games are a largely computer-simulated exercise that runs for two weeks in the South. Pyongyang threatens strong military counteraction each year.

In recent weeks the North has threatened to fire a salvo of missiles toward the US Pacific territory of Guam, but has since backed away from the plan and tensions have eased.

Under Kim, Pyongyang has made rapid strides in its ballistic missile technology, which it is banned from pursuing under United Nations resolutions that have slapped it with seven sets of sanctions.

Last month it carried out two successful ICBM launches, overseen by Kim and apparently bringing most of its sworn enemy the United States into range for the first time. </s> WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump has warned that “all options are on the table” after North Korea launched a missile over Japan early Tuesday.

The missile was fired just before 6 a.m. in Japan, where the launch set off warnings in the northern part of the country urging people to seek shelter.

“The world has received North Korea’s latest message loud and clear,” Trump said in a statement. “This regime has signaled its contempt for its neighbors, for all members of the United Nations, and for minimum standards of acceptable international behavior.”

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe also denounced Tuesday’s launch, saying it represented a “most serious and grave” threat.

The unidentified missile flew over Erimomisaki, on the northern island of Hokkaido, and broke into three pieces before falling into the Pacific Ocean, about 733 miles off the Japanese coast.

The missile was in flight for about 15 minutes, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said at an emergency press conference.

“There is no immediate report of the fallen objects and no damage to the ships and aircraft,” he said.

Tuesday’s launch is the first time North Korea has successfully fired a ballistic missile over Japan.

Various stages of launch vehicles have overflown Japan during Pyongang’s attempts to launch satellites into space in 1998, 2009, 2012 and 2016.

This is the fourth missile North Korea has fired in four days. Pyongyang tested three short-range ballistic missiles, one of which failed, from Kangwon province that landed in water off the Korean Peninsula.

This time, the missile was launched near the capital of Pyongyang, a move that is rare and highly provocative.

The test shows the mobility of North Korea’s arsenal, and might have been intended to deliver a message that pre-emptive U.S. strikes on missile launch facilities could land uncomfortably close to civilians.

North Korea has launched missiles from various positions across the country in recent months, and it possesses trucks that have been converted into transporter-erector-launchers — vehicles for quickly deploying and launching missiles — including some from China.

It also is developing missiles that use solid fuel, which are much quicker to deploy than their liquid-fueled counterparts.

Soon after the launch, Abe called it a “unprecedented serious and grave threat to Japan” that “significantly undermines the peace and security of the region.”

The Japanese leader said he spoke with Trump for 40 minutes.

“Japan and the U.S. completely agreed that an emergency meeting at the U.N. Security Council should be held immediately and increase the pressure towards North Korea,” Abe said.

Trump reiterated that the United States “stands with Japan 100 percent,” Abe said.

While the missile flew over Japanese territory, one analyst said it wasn’t necessarily intended as a threat to Japan.

“If they’re going to launch to a distance, they’ve got to go over somebody. It looks to me like a risk reduction measure, they want to reduce the populated areas they fly over just in case anything goes wrong,” said Joshua Pollack, a senior research associate at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies.

South Korea responded by conducting a bombing drill to test its “capability to destroy the North Korean leadership” in cases of emergency, an official with the country’s Defense Ministry said.

Yoon Young-chan, the head of South Korea’s Presidential Public Affairs Office, said four F-15K fighter jets dropped eight one-ton MK-84 bombs at a shooting range.

The operation was meant “to showcase a strong punishment capability against the North,” he said.

“We are fully ready to counter any threat from North Korea and will make unwavering efforts to protect the lives of our people and the security of our nation,” South Korean Foreign Ministry spokesman Cho June-hyuck said.

Analysts believe Tuesday’s launch shows a new level of confidence from the North Koreans.

“It is a big deal that they overflew Japan, which they have carefully avoided doing for a number of years, even though it forced them to test missiles on highly lofted trajectories, and forced them to launch their satellites to the south, which is less efficient than launching to the east (due to the Earth’s rotational motion),” said David Wright, co-director of the Global Security Program at the Union of Concerned Scientists.

Pyongyang’s missile tests are banned under United Nations Security Council resolutions, but that hasn’t stopped North Korean leader Kim Jong Un from attempting to rapidly develop his country’s nuclear and missile programs.

This time, the missile was launched near the North Korean capital of Pyongyang, which is rare.

Minutes after the missile was launched, residents in northern Japan received a text message urging them to seek shelter in a strong structure or a basement.

“We were awoken by sirens and messages from the government telling us to take cover,” a resident said.

China, North Korea’s only real ally and economic patron, called for restraint from relevant parties.

“China urges the relevant parties not to take actions that would provoke one another and escalate tensions in the region,” Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said. </s> North Korea has fired at least two projectiles from its eastern coast, which Japanese government sources confirmed were short-range ballistic missiles, according to Kyodo news.

The projectiles launched early on Thursday from near Wonsan flew about 430km to the east, South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff says.

A Japanese government source told Kyodo the missiles did not reach Japan's exclusive economic zone and had no impact on Japan's national security.

The firing of ballistic missiles would cast new doubts on efforts to restart denuclearisation talks after US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un met at the demilitarised zone (DMZ) at the end of June.

The White House, Pentagon and US State Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

A senior US administration official said: “We are aware of reports of a short-range projectile launched from North Korea. We have no further comment.”

Trump’s national security adviser John Bolton, who has taken a hardline towards North Korea, made no mention of the launches in a tweet on Thursday morning after a visit to South Korea, referring only to “productive meetings” with South Korean officials on regional security and building a stronger alliance.

The United States and North Korea vowed to soon hold new rounds of working-level talks but Pyongyang has since sharply criticised coming joint military drills by US and South Korean troops.

North Korea's foreign ministry said earlier this month that Washington's pattern of "unilaterally reneging on its commitments" by holding military exercises with South Korea was leading Pyongyang to reconsider its own commitments to discontinue tests of nuclear weapons and intercontinental ballistic missiles.

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North Korea's weapons testing in May included short-range missiles as well as smaller rockets. At the time, Kim oversaw the first flight of a previously untested weapon: a relatively small, fast missile that experts believe will be easier to hide, launch and manoeuvre in flight.

On Tuesday, state news agency KCNA reported that Kim inspected a large, newly built submarine, accompanied by missile program leaders. It potentially signalled continued development of a submarine-launched ballistic missile program. Denuclearisation talks between North Korea and the United States have stalled after a second summit between Trump and Kim in Vietnam in February broke down. </s> North Korea fired three short-range ballistic missiles Saturday morning from Kangwon province, the US Pacific Command said.

Though North Korea says it now has the ability to send missiles to the US mainland, US defense officials said they determined these missiles did not pose a threat to North America or Guam.

Cmdr. David Benham, spokesman for US Pacific Command, said the first and third missiles “failed in flight” and the second missile launch “appears to have blown up almost immediately.”

The missile tests occurred as the United States and South Korea conducted the annual Ulchi Freedom Guardian military exercises.

South Korea and the United States call the exercises defensive in nature, but North Korea sees them as provocative and hostile, perhaps even preparation for an invasion.

“The Korean People’s Army is keeping a high alert, fully ready to contain the enemies. It will take resolute steps the moment even a slight sign of the preventive war is spotted,” North Korean state-run newspaper Rodong Sinmun said.

A statement issued by the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff said “the projectiles” were launched around 6:49 a.m. Saturday and flew about 250 kilometers (155 miles) into the Sea of Japan, or East Sea.

South Korea planned to convene its national security council several hours after the missile launches, the presidential office said in a statement.

“Our military is closely monitoring for North Korean additional provocation and strengthened surveillance and security postures and maintaining readiness postures,” the South Korean release said.

North Korea has conducted a series of ballistic missile tests this year, increasing tensions with the United States, South Korea and Japan.

The country has fired more than 20 missiles since February, further perfecting its technology with each launch. In July, it launched an intercontinental ballistic missile, which North Korea claims could reach “anywhere in the world.”

The missile launches pose “no immediate threat” to Guam, Guam’s office of the governor said in a statement.

“Although the launches were no threat to Guam, it reminds us that we cannot be complacent,” said George Charfauros, the homeland security adviser on the US territory. “We place confidence in our US Department of Defense capabilities and continue open communications with our federal and military partners.”

Japan’s chief cabinet secretary, Yoshihide Suga, told reporters Saturday morning the launches would not directly affect Japan’s security, and that no missiles have reached Japan’s territorial water and exclusive economic zone, according to the Prime Minister’s office.

The prime minister directed his staff to remain on high alert, Suga said.
Japan warns on Saturday that the new North Korean projectiles have trajectories that are not typical for conventional ballistic missiles, making them difficult or impossible to intercept en route to Japan.