Undeterred by international protests, North Korea continues its series of missile tests. Not far from Pyongyang, two ballistic missiles are launched towards the Sea of Japan. South Korea had previously announced the return of the nuclear-powered US aircraft carrier "USS Ronald Reagan" to the waters off the peninsula.
Two days after the latest escalation, North Korea once again fired missiles in the direction of Japan. Two short-range ballistic missiles were fired from North Korea towards the east coast of Japan, the Japanese government and the South Korean general staff reported on Thursday (local time). "This absolutely cannot be tolerated," Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida told reporters.
The rocket launch was the sixth in twelve days. "North Korea has relentlessly and unilaterally escalated its provocations, especially since the beginning of this year," Japanese Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada told reporters. According to the South Korean secret service JCS, the rockets were detonated near the North Korean capital Pyongyang.
The launch came about an hour after North Korea condemned the US move to bring North Korea's "just countermeasures by the Korean People's Army to the joint exercises between South Korea and the US" to the United Nations (UN) Security Council. North Korea also criticized the transfer of a US aircraft carrier to the waters off the Korean Peninsula. This poses a serious threat to the stability of the situation, the North Korean Foreign Ministry said.
South Korea announced on Wednesday that the United States would again send its nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan to the waters east of the Korean peninsula. In September, the ship arrived in South Korea on its first visit in nearly four years and participated in naval maneuvers between South Korean and US forces.
It was the first time a North Korean missile had flown over the Japanese archipelago in almost five years. The relocation of the warships represents one of the sharpest reactions from the allies to a North Korean weapons test since 2017. The sealed-off country's missile launches violate UN sanctions.
