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Rocket launch in the North Korean province of Pyongan: North Korea responded to the naval maneuvers by Japanese and US forces with further tests
Photo: Uncredited / dpa
North Korea has continued its series of missile tests.
The Yonhap news agency reported, citing the South Korean military, that North Korea had launched two ballistic missiles from the Munchon area towards the Sea of Japan.
The second rocket flew at an altitude of 100 kilometers and had a range of 350 kilometers, reports the Reuters news agency.
No further details were initially given.
Japanese Deputy Defense Minister Toshiro Ino said in a first statement: "North Korea's missile launches cannot be tolerated."
Rocket launch shortly after US naval maneuvers
It is the seventh time North Korea has conducted missile tests in the past two weeks.
Last Tuesday, the country also had a medium-range missile fly over the Japanese archipelago for the first time in five years.
The latest missile launch came just hours after a naval maneuver by South Korean and US forces ended on Saturday.
The nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan also took part in the military exercise.
Only on Saturday did North Korea's national aviation authority justify its missile launches as a self-defense measure against the United States.
The North Korean military warned that moving the US aircraft carrier near the Korean peninsula would have a "significant negative impact" on regional security and defended its recent missile tests as a "fair response" to Japanese and US military exercises.
United Nations resolutions prohibit North Korea from testing ballistic missiles of any range, which, depending on the design, can also carry a nuclear warhead.
jpa/dpa/Reuters
