Seoul – North Korea launched a volley of anti-ship cruise missiles off its east coast early Thursday, Seoul’s Defence Ministry confirmed, amid heightened regional tension over Pyongyang’s weapons testing programme.
“North Korea fired multiple unidentified projectiles, assumed to be surface-to-ship missiles, this morning from the vicinity of Wonsan, Gangwon Province,” the Joint Chiefs of Staff in Seoul said.
The short-range missiles flew some 200 kilometres before dropping into the East Sea, a Defence Ministry spokesman said.
Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida said the missiles had no immediate impact on Japan’s national security and that there was nothing to suggest they had reached his country’s exclusive economic zone.
Japan, however, “will continue to be on heightened alert, gathering information and analysing the launch, while coordinating with countries concerned such as the United States and South Korea,” Kishida said.
North Korean ballistic missile test – A file phot from May 30, 2017, showing North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un smiling as he observes a ballistic missile test (Credit Image: © Yonhap News/Newscom via ZUMA Press) Photo: Yonhap News/Newscom via ZUMA Press/dpa
China called on all parties to ease the tensions in the Korea peninsula by avoiding provocative actions, said Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying.
All parties should “make positive efforts to maintain the stability in the region,” Hua said.
Last week the UN Security Council sharpened its sanctions against Pyongyang after a series of recent missile launches, which contravene UN resolutions.
North Korea has been firing missiles on an almost weekly basis since the election of South Korean President Moon Jae In early last month.
On Saturday, US Defence Secretary James Mattis said North Korea’s nuclear weapons programme was a “threat to all” and called on China, Pyongyang’s main ally, to take firmer action in reigning it in.
“The United States regards the threat from North Korea as a clear and present danger,” he said.
-dpa
