North Korea conducts missile tests after vowing to ‘firmly defend’ itself

According to South Korea’s military, two ballistic missiles were test-fired by North Korea on Monday, but one of them potentially flew abnormally.

The test firing comes a day after North Korea vowed to “firmly defend the sovereignty, security, and interests of the state and peace in the region through offensive and overwhelming countermeasures” in response to a new US military drill conducted with South Korea and Japan, NBC News reported.

North Korea’s Foreign Ministry issued a statement on Sunday denouncing the military drill, calling the alliance between the three countries an Asian version of NATO that openly destroys the security environment on the Korean Peninsula, CBS News reported.

As for the missiles, a statement from the Joint Chiefs of Staff shared that the missiles were launched 10 minutes apart in a northeasterly direction from the town of Jangyon in southeastern North Korea.

The first missile flew 370 miles, while the second only made it about 75 miles, according to the statement. However, officials were not certain where the missiles landed.

While the country usually test-fires missiles in the direction of its eastern waters, the second missile’s flight distance was too short to reach those waters.

Joint Chiefs of Staff spokesperson Lee Sung Joon shared in a briefing that if the second missile exploded, the debris would likely have scattered on the ground, though no damages were reported. Lee also said that they are still investigating the second missile launch.

The launches from North Korea were condemned by the Joint Chiefs of Staff, calling them a provocation that poses a serious threat to peace on the Korean Peninsula.

It also shared that South Korea maintains a firm readiness to repel any possible attacks or provocations from the North and that the US would stand firm with the nation in its military alliance.

The missile launch came after Russian President Vladimir Putin visited North Korea as the two nations continue to grow their alliance.

Putin vowed to support North Korea from what he called Western persecution during his visit, and reports have said that North Korea is supplying Russia with arms as it continues its war in Ukraine.