For the first time since Joe Biden became US president, the secretive state of North Korea has fired two ballistic missiles into the Sea of Japan on Thursday, March 25, the US and Japan have announced
Under UN Security Council resolutions, North Korea is banned from testing ballistic missiles, considered threatening weapons.
Japanese officials said North Korea fired the two missiles after 07:00 local time on Thursday. They flew 420km and 430km respectively before landing in waters outside of Japan’s exclusive economic zone. There was no damage inflicted to ships or aeroplanes.
US allies, Japan and South Korea have condemned the test. The missile test comes just days after North Korea reportedly fired two non-ballistic missiles into the Yellow Sea. The US Pacific Command, which is in charge of military forces in the Asia-Pacific region, said that the test highlighted “the threat that North Korea’s illicit weapons programme poses to its neighbours and the international community”.
On Tuesday, Joe Biden laughed off the short-range missile launch which took place over the weekend, saying the US did not consider it a provocation.
North Korea has spent more than a year in isolation cutting off trade with China amidst the Covid-19 pandemic. North Korea last fired ballistic missiles a year ago amid stalled relations between then-US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.