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Kim Yo Jong, sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un
Photo: Ahn Young-joon/AP
Concerns about a further escalation on the Korean peninsula are growing.
North Korea fired multiple ballistic missiles from its east coast on Monday.
According to the South Korean military, there were two missiles.
The Japanese Coast Guard spoke of three projectiles, all of which fell within minutes outside of Japan's economic zone, according to state broadcaster NHK.
The regime had already fired an ICBM on Saturday after the Pyongyang government threatened a drastic response to annual joint US-South Korean military exercises.
Tests with ICBMs and other ballistic missiles are banned from North Korea by United Nations decisions.
North Korea's development of ICBMs is primarily aimed at the United States, which Pyongyang accuses of hostile policies.
Pyongyang described the test as a successful "surprise exercise" that demonstrated its own "capability for a deadly nuclear retaliatory strike."
According to the North Korean state news agency KCNA, a Hwasong-15 rocket was fired from Pyongyang Airport on Saturday afternoon (local time) on an order given in the morning by ruler Kim Jong Un.
Sister of the head of state warns the Seoul and the USA
North Korean leader's sister Kim Yo Jong warned of an increased US presence on the Korean Peninsula after the United States held bilateral air exercises with South Korea and Japan on Sunday in response to the ICBM launch.
"We are carefully evaluating the impact this would have on the security of our state," Kim Yo Jong said in an official statement.
"The frequency of using the Pacific as a firing range depends on the behavior of US forces." North Korea has "satisfactory" missile technology and capability and will "now concentrate on increasing the quantity of its armed forces".
North Korea completed an unprecedented missile test program last year.
This also included ICBMs capable of reaching the American mainland.
It is also suspected that the communist country is preparing for the first test of nuclear weapons since 2017.
jok/Reuters
