As a US nuclear-armed submarine lands in South Korea, two ballistic missiles are launched into North Korea's eastern sea.
As a US nuclear-armed submarine lands in South Korea, two ballistic missiles are launched into North Korea's eastern sea.
According to the Japanese and South Korean militaries, North Korea just launched two ballistic missiles into the eastern sea only hours after a nuclear-armed ballistic missile submarine from the United States arrived in a South Korean port for the first time in four decades.
According to the Japanese defense ministry, both missiles launched early Wednesday morning appeared to have landed outside Japan's exclusive economic zone.
The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) of South Korea urged North Korea to stop such launches.
"We strongly condemn North Korea's successive ballistic missile launches as grave provocative acts that undermine the calmness and stability of the Korean Peninsula as well as the international community and are a clear indication of violation of UN Security Council resolutions," the Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement.
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According to Japanese Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada, the first missile achieved an altitude of 50km (31 miles) and traveled 550 km (341 miles). In comparison, the second attained an altitude of 50km and flew 600km (372 miles).
Japan has submitted a diplomatic protest against the missile launches, he said.
The launches come about a week after North Korea conducted a test launch of its latest Hwasong-18 solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missile, which Pyongyang described as a warning to the US and other rivals.
According to the South Korea's Yonhap News Agency, the missile launch on Wednesday followed the first meeting of the Nuclear Consultative Group (NCG) between Seoul and Washington, which aims to strengthen the US's "extended deterrence commitment to using the full range of its military capabilities, including nuclear weapons, to defend its ally" South Korea.
The encounter occurred at the same time the USS Kentucky arrived at a naval base in Busan, marking "the first port visit by an American nuclear-capable strategic submarine (SSBN) since the USS Robert E. Lee in March 1981," according to Yonhap.
The US military said it was aware of the missile launches early Wednesday morning and was in close contact with its friends and partners.
The launches did not appear to represent an immediate threat to the US or its allies. Still, according to a statement from the US Indo-Pacific Command, they did underline the destabilizing consequences of North Korea's illicit weapons development.