North Korea has fired eight short-range ballistic missiles less than two weeks after its last test, the South Korean military said.
The test lasted 35 minutes on Sunday, with rockets fired in succession from the Sunan area near the North Korean capital, Pyongyang.
Japan’s Defense Minister Nobuo Kishi said the launch “cannot be tolerated”.
It is not yet clear how far the missiles have traveled, but Mr Kishi told a briefing that at least one missile has a variable trajectory, indicating that it can maneuver to evade missile defense.
The news comes just a day after South Korea and the United States completed a three-day combined exercise off the Japanese island of Okinawa.
USS Ronald Reagan, a nuclear aircraft carrier, took part in the exercise.
North Korea describes such exercises as an example of US “hostile policy” toward it.
US Special Representative Sung Kim was also in the area, meeting with colleagues from South Korea and Japan to prepare for “all emergencies” as fears grow that Pyongyang may soon conduct a nuclear test for the first time. from 2017
Mr Kim insisted the United States was open to diplomacy with North Korea, and even went so far as to say talks to ease sanctions.
Image: North Korean leader Kim Jong Un balances missile tests with COVID-19 outbreak
The missile test on Sunday was the 18th from North Korea this year.
The last was on May 25, when he fired three missiles, including his largest intercontinental ballistic missile, the Hwasong-17.
This prompted a US resolution in the UN Security Council calling for more sanctions, although this was imposed by Russia and China.
Negotiations between the United States and North Korea have not progressed since 2019 – the United States wants signs of disarmament, but North Korea refuses to take such steps while sanctions remain at their current level.
Despite frostbitten relations, the United States has offered to help North Korea fight COVID-19 as the country continues to fight its first known outbreak since the pandemic began.
More than 73,000 people were reported to have symptoms of fever on Saturday.
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