Pyongyang fires more missiles, prompting alerts in Japan
Seoul, Nov 3 (EFE).- North Korea appeared to have launched one intercontinental and two short-range ballistic missiles on Wednesday morning, prompting Japan to issue an alert urging residents to seek shelter.
South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said that it had detected the launch of what appeared to be an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) from Sunan area of Pyongyang towards the Sea of Japan around 7.40 am (22:40 GMT Wednesday).
It also reported the detection of two short-range ballistic missiles launched from Kaechon in South Pyongan province from around 8.39 am.
The ICBM activated Japan’s alert system around 7.46 am local time in the prefectures of Niigata, Yamagata and Miyagi, although the defense ministry later said that the projectile, which fell into the Pacific Ocean, did not fly over the archipelago.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida told reporters that the latest string of missile launches from North Korea, which on Wednesday fired a one-day record of around 20 projectiles, was “unacceptable.”
One of the projectiles that Pyongyang fired on Wednesday crashed into waters just 57 km from the South Korean east coast – the first time in history that a North Korean missile has crossed the maritime border and fallen next to the territory of the neighboring country.
Seoul responded by firing three air-to-ground missiles into waters along the northern coast, also unprecedented and further increasing the tension in the region.
The North Korean launches appear to be in response to large-scale air exercises that Seoul and Washington are carrying out until Friday. EFE
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