On Monday, North Korea launched two short-range ballistic missiles into its eastern waters. The country continued its weapons displays while the United States moved an aircraft carrier strike group to neighboring waters for military exercises with the South.
The Joint Chiefs of Staff in South Korea reported that the two missiles came from a western inland area south of the North Korean capital of Pyongyang.
Japan’s military stated that the missiles flew on an “irregular” trajectory and reached a maximum altitude of 50 kilometers (31 miles) before landing outside Japan’s exclusive economic zone.
Previously, Japan identified a North Korean solid-fuel missile that seems to be based on Russia’s Iskander mobile ballistic system. This missile system is designed to maneuver at low altitudes to better evade South Korean missile defenses. North Korea also has another short-range system with similar characteristics resembling the U.S. MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile System.
The launches came a day before the USS Nimitz and its strike group are to arrive at the South Korean port of Busan. South Korea’s Defense Ministry said in a statement that the Nimitz strike group will participate in exercises with South Korean warships on Monday in international waters near the South Korean resort island of Jeju before heading to Busan.
The launches were the North’s seventh missile event this month and underscore heightening tensions in the region as the pace of both North Korean weapons tests and the U.S.-South Korea joint military exercises has accelerated in recent months in a cycle of tit-for-tat responses.
The South Korean and Japanese militaries denounced the latest launches as serious provocations threatening regional peace and violating U.N. Security Council resolutions .
The United States and South Korea completed their biggest springtime exercises in years last week, which had included both computer simulations and life-fire field exercises.
North Korea’s Short-Range Launches
In September, North Korea conducted a short-range launch while the USS Ronald Reagan and its battle group arrived for joint drills with South Korea. This was the last time the United States sent an aircraft carrier to waters near the Korean Peninsula.
North Korea has fired more than 20 ballistic and cruise missiles across 11 launch events this year as it tries to force the United States to accept its nuclear status and negotiate a removal of sanctions from a position of strength.
North Korea’s launches this month included a flight-test of an intercontinental ballistic missile and a series of short-range weapons intended to overwhelm South Korean missile defenses as it tries to demonstrate an ability to conduct nuclear strikes on both South Korea and the U.S. mainland.
The North last week conducted what it described as a three-day exercise that simulated nuclear attacks on South Korean targets as leader Kim Jong Un condemned the U.S.-South Korean joint military drills as invasion rehearsals. The allies say the exercises are defensive in nature.