SEOUL (Reuters) – North Korea launched ballistic missiles towards the sea for the first time in two months on Monday, while US Secretary of State Antony Blinken attended a conference in Seoul during the day by South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol.
According to the South Korean military, several short-range missiles were fired off North Korea’s eastern coast from the capital Pyongyang, traveling a distance of about 300 kilometers. She denounced an “obvious provocation”, adding that she would share the information she had with the United States and Japan.
The US Defense Department also condemned the launches, saying they violated several UN Security Council resolutions and posed a risk to regional stability.
In Tokyo, the Japanese Defense Ministry reported the launch of three North Korean missiles which traveled a distance of approximately 350 kilometers.
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Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida condemned the North Korean launch after the country’s coast guard reported the launch of a projectile appearing to be a ballistic missile that landed outside Japan’s exclusive economic zone.
For several weeks, Pyongyang has been increasing tests with conventional weapons, exercises often personally supervised by North Korean number one Kim Jong-un.
South Korean Defense Minister Shin Won-sik said during a press conference that Seoul and Washington were attentive to the use of these missiles.
“We are not sure whether these missiles are intended to reinforce the front line or for export to Russia. But there is a significant risk that these missiles were in the final stages of testing before being sent to Russia “, specified the minister.
Shin Won-sik said at least 7,000 containers of munitions had been exported to Russia since July, in exchange for food and fuel.
France condemned, through the Quai d’Orsay, the North Korean shots, which it describes as “destabilizing actions”, and assured South Korea and Japan of its solidarity.
North Korea recently denounced the joint maneuvers of the South Korean and American armies. These large-scale exercises, organized each year by Seoul and Washington, ended last Thursday, after ten days.
This North Korean shot comes while Antony Blinken participated in the Summit for Democracy in Seoul, a conference which opened this Monday. The head of American diplomacy was to meet on this occasion with his South Korean counterpart.
(Joyce Lee in Seoul, with Mariko Katsumura and Kaori Kaneko in Tokyo; French version Jean Terzian and Corentin Chappron, edited by Sophie Louet)
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