The missile launch was the sixth in 12 days and the first one since North Korea fired an intermediate-range missile (IRBM) over Japan on Tuesday. The move had initiated joint South Korean and U.S. missile drills during which one weapon crashed and burned creating panic in the South Korean town.<\/p>\n
While this happened, the United States accused China and Russia on Wednesday of enabling the North Korean leader Kim Jong Un by blocking attempts to strengthen U.N. Security Council sanctions on Pyongyang over its nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs.<\/p>\n
The fresh missile launch came just about an hour after North Korea condemned the United States for consulting the United Nations Security Council about Pyongyang\u2019s missile tests and blamed Washington for \u201cescalating the military tensions on the Korean peninsula\u201d.<\/p>\n
The past couple of weeks has seen a flurry of launches including one of the longest-ever test by distance. North Korea however claims that the tests were just \u201ccounteraction measures of the Korean People\u2019s Army on South Korea-US joint drills,\u201d according to Pyongyang\u2019s foreign ministry.<\/p>\n
The new missile launches on Thursday were detected by South Korea\u2019s military who said, \u201ctwo short-range ballistic missiles launched from the Samsok area in Pyongyang towards the East Sea, also known as the Sea of Japan.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOur military has reinforced monitoring and surveillance and is maintaining utmost readiness in coordination with the United States,\u201d Seoul\u2019s Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement.<\/p>\n
The Japanese government too confirmed the launch and Prime Minister Fumio Kishida told reporters. \u201cThis absolutely cannot be tolerated.\u201d<\/p>\n
The first missile on Thursday flew about 350 kilometers at a maximum altitude of around 100 kilometers, while the second missile had a flight range of about 800 kilometers at an altitude of around 50 kilometers, according to Japanese defense minister Yasukazu Hamada.<\/p>\n
Many of North Korea\u2019s most recent short-range ballistic missiles (SRBMs) are designed to fly on a lower, depressed trajectory and potentially maneuver, problematizing efforts to detect and intercept them.<\/p>\n
North Korea has launched about 40 missiles this year with a record schedule that began in January with the launch of a new \u201chypersonic missile,\u201d and went on to include long-range cruise missiles; SRBMs fired from rail cars, airports, and a submarine; its first intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) launches since 2017, and the IRBM shot over Japan.<\/p>\n
North Korea also seems ready to conduct a nuclear test for the first time since 2017, according to officials in Seoul and Washington.<\/p>\n
The United States and its allies have stepped up displays of military force in the region, but there appears to be little prospect of further international sanctions from the U.N. Security Council, which has already passed resolutions banning the North\u2019s missile and nuclear development.<\/p>\n
Beijing meanwhile has continued to blame Washington for provoking the spate of launches by Kim Jong Un\u2019s regime. Deputy Chinese ambassador to the UN Geng Shuang said North Korea\u2019s recent launches were \u201cclosely related\u201d to military exercises in the region conducted by the United States and its allies.<\/p>\n
In May, China and Russia vetoed a U.S.-led push to impose more U.N. sanctions on North Korea over its renewed ballistic missile launches, publicly breaking the Security Council for the first time since it started punishing Pyongyang with sanctions in 2006.<\/p>\n
(With inputs from AFP, Reuters)<\/em><\/p>\n