Alwaght- North Korea has launched on Monday four ballistic missiles in the direction of Japan, three of which landed in an area where Tokyo claims as its sovereign territory.
Japanese officials said three of the ballistic missiles went down in Japan’s Exclusive Economic Zone as close as 300 km to the Japanese coast — waters claimed by Tokyo as its sovereign territory.
“Multiple ballistic missiles” were launched from the Tongchang-ri region near the North's border with China and flew about 1,000 km and reached a height of 260 km, South Korean military officials said.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe reacted to the launches immediately by saying, “This clearly shows North Korea has entered a new stage of threat."
Abe said Pyongyang’s launches “clearly violate UN Security Council resolutions,” and that Tokyo “can never tolerate this."
It seems that the move was in reaction to joint military exercises between South Korea and the United States, which Pyongyang considered as preparations for war and threatened to take "strong retaliatory measures".
North Korea criticizes the annual drills and has previously conducted missile launches to coincide with the exercises.
Last year, North Korea fired a long-range rocket from Tongchang-ri that put an object into orbit.
North Korea has been subjected to international pressure, including Security Council resolutions, to abandon its arms development and nuclear programs. Yet, it says the programs are meant to protect the country from US hostility.