Politics

North Korea fires two short-range ballistic missiles

Seoul, Mar 14 (EFE).- North Korea on Tuesday launched two short-range ballistic missiles into the Sea of Japan, the South Korean army reported, a day after Seoul and Washington began their spring joint military drills.

The Joint Chiefs of Staff said it detected two short-range ballistic missiles launched from Jangyeon in South Hwanghae province at around 7.41 am and 7.51 am local time. They flew some 620 kilometers.

“We strongly condemn the North’s series of ballistic missile launches as an act of significant provocation that harms peace and stability not only on the Korean Peninsula, but also in the international community, and a clear violation of UN Security Council resolutions,” the JCS said, according to Yonhap news agency.

“While normally conducting the combined exercise under the firm combined defense posture, our military will track and monitor North Korean movements to see if there is a possibility of additional provocations.”

On Sunday, Pyongyang fired two strategic cruise missiles from a submarine.

Tuesday’s is the seventh launch so far this year by the North Korean regime, which has promised an “unprecedented response” to the allies’ Freedom Shield exercises that began on Sunday and will run until Mar. 23.

A US nuclear-powered aircraft carrier is also expected to take part in the exercises in the coming days.

The peninsula is experiencing a historic level of tension after 2022 in which Pyongyang, which has rejected offers to return to dialogue, carried out a record number of weapons tests and in which the allies once again carried out large-scale military maneuvers.

Faced with the apparent lack of will to promote détente on both sides, experts have pointed to the growing danger of a miscalculation that could have fatal consequences. EFE

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