North Korea fires short range ballistic missiles amid escalating tensions

North Korea has fired two short-range ballistic missiles toward its eastern waters in a widely condemned weapons test — its second in three days — that prompted Tokyo to request an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council.

Monday's firings follow an intercontinental ballistic missile launch on Saturday and North Korea’s threats to take an unprecedentedly strong response to US-South Korean military drills that the North views as an invasion rehearsal.

Some experts say North Korea is pushing for more powerful weapons so that it can increase its leverage in potential negotiations with the United States.

South Korea’s military said it detected the two missile launches on Monday morning from a western coastal town, just north of Pyongyang, the North Korean capital.

Japan said both missiles landed in waters outside Japan’s exclusive economic zone and that no damage involving aircraft and vessels in the area was reported.

According to Japanese and South Korean assessments, the North Korean missiles flew at a maximum altitude of 50-100 kilometers (30-60 miles) and a distance of 340-400 kilometers (210-250 miles). Those distances suggest South Korea is within striking range.

Both South Korea and Japan condemned recent North Korean launches as threats to international peace and violations of UN Security Council resolutions that ban any ballistic activities by North Korea. 

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida told reporters that Tokyo was requesting an emergency Security Council meeting to respond to recent North Korean launches.

An initial Security Council briefing led by Assistant Secretary-General for political affairs Khaled Khiari was set for later on Monday.

Further council action against North Korea is in doubt after China and Russia, both veto-wielding powers embroiled in separate confrontations with Washington, opposed US-led attempts last year to add fresh sanctions after the North launched dozens of ballistic weapons.

READ MORE: North Korea confirms ballistic missile test, warns of more powerful steps

Escalating tensions in Pacific

The US Indo-Pacific Command said the new launches highlight “the destabilising impact” of North Korea’s unlawful weapons programmes. It said the US commitments to the defence of South Korea and Japan “remain ironclad.”

North Korea’s state media also confirmed the tests saying long-range artillery units on its western coast fired two rounds on Monday morning cross-country toward the eastern waters, in what South Korea’s military called a confirmation of the activities Seoul and Tokyo reported as missile launches.

The official Korean Central News Agency said the North Korean artillery rounds simulated strikes on targets up to 395 kilometers (245 miles) away.

The North said the launches involved its new 600-millimeter multiple rocket launcher system that could be armed with “tactical” nuclear weapons for battlefield use. South Korean defence officials have viewed the weapons system as a short-range ballistic missile.

“The frequency of using the Pacific as our firing range depends upon the US forces’ action character,” Kim Yo Jong, the powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, said in a statement carried by state media. “We are well aware of the movement of US forces’ strategic strike means, (which are) recently getting brisk around the Korean Peninsula."

She could be referring to the US flyover of B-1B long-range, supersonic bombers on Sunday for separate training with South Korea and Japan. The B-1B deployment came as response to North Korea’s launch Saturday of the Hwasong-15 ICBM off its east coast in the country’s first missile test since Jan. 1.

North Korea is extremely sensitive to the deployment of B-1B bombers, which can carry a huge payload of conventional weapons.

North Korea set an annual record in 2022 with the launch of more than 70 missiles. 

North Korea has said many of those weapons tests were a warning over previous US-South Korean military drills. It also passed a law that allows it to use nuclear weapons preemptively in a broad range of scenarios.

READ MORE: North Korea displays ICBMs at parade in demonstration of nuclear capability