North Korea fired several short-range ballistic missiles into the sea off its eastern coast early Saturday morning, Seoul confirmed. The launch, which came as a five-day U.S.-South Korea-Japan joint military exercise concluded, was said to have been timed by Pyongyang to the minute.
According to South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff, the missiles were launched from the Wonsan area on the eastern coast of North Korea, and each of them traveled about 250 km and splashed into the sea. The South Korean military has upped the surveillance and is coordinating with the U.S. and Japan to confirm the details of the launch. The launches do not pose any threat to the U.S. territory and to its allies, said the U.S. Pacific Command in a statement. The command reiterated its commitment to and partnership with South Korea and Japan in maintaining security in the region.
The test comes a day after the conclusion of the five-day Freedom Edge exercise, a trilateral joint military exercise involving the US, South Korea and Japan that Pyongyang had denounced in advance as a provocation. The scaled-back version of the annual exercise, which included naval operations, aerial refueling, joint cyber operations and a medical exercise, was seen as a diplomatic gesture by Washington but was rejected by Pyongyang as insufficient.
This test was North Korea's first ballistic missile test in around three weeks as the country continues to demonstrate its strategic weapons capability. The tests are against UN Security Council resolutions and South Korea's National Security Council again called on Pyongyang to stop testing ballistic missiles.
Saturday's launch underlines Kim Jong Un's strategy of continued military pressure despite diplomatic channels remaining open. U.S. defense analysts note that the Wonsan-area launches carry a consistent deterrence message: Pyongyang will not allow major trilateral exercises on the peninsula to pass without a visible response.
