Iran Press/Asia: North Korea has launched two projectiles, one of which landed in waters inside Japan’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ), the Japanese government said on Wednesday, after what appears to have been a show of strength by Pyongyang before it resumes nuclear talks with the US at the weekend.
Japan’s government said the projectiles appeared to be ballistic missiles, adding that there were no immediate reports of damage to shipping or aircraft, Guardian reported.
“One of them appears to have fallen into waters ... inside Japan’s exclusive economic zone,” Japan’s top government spokesman, Yoshihide Suga, told reporters. Reports said one of the projectiles had landed in the sea off the coast of Shimane prefecture.
Earlier, South Korea’s joint chiefs of staff said North Korea had fired an unidentified projectile from Wonsan, in Gangwon province, towards the sea to the east. They said the military was watching closely for possible additional launches.
Japan’s coast guard urged vessels in the area of the Japan Sea – known in Korea as the East Sea - to pay attention to further information and not to approach any debris.
The launch was the ninth, since Donald Trump and the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, met at the heavily guarded demilitarized zone (DMZ) between the two Koreas in June, and came soon after Pyongyang announced it would hold working-level talks with the US on Saturday – a development that could potentially break months of stalemate over the North’s nuclear weapons programme.
It is not the first time North Korean missiles have landed in Japan’s exclusive economic zone, but short-range missiles launched in recent months have fallen short of the zone, which stretches 370km (230 miles) from the country’s coast. 101/211/216
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