TOKYO, March 18. /TASS/. The United States has registered two missile launches in North Korea. They were supposedly Rodong type missiles, Japan’s NHK TV channel reported on Friday, citing Pentagon officials.
According to NHK, "US Defense Department officials say the Pentagon has detected 2 missiles fired by North Korea. They said both are believed to be Rodong mid-range ballistic missiles. The officials say the launch poses no threat to either Japan or South Korea."
South Korean military officials say the North launched one ballistic missile from the country's west coast toward the Sea of Japan at around 5:55 AM on Friday.
Earlier on Friday, Japanese Defense Minister Gen Nakatani said that one ballistic missile was launched from the west coast of North Korea at 05:55, Japan time (23:55 Moscow time, Thursday). The missile flew 800 kilometers and fell into the Sea of ··Japan. According to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, this launch posed no damage.
It follows the country's firing of two short-range ballistic missiles into waters in the Sea of Japan off its east coast on March 10 and declaration that it would sever all economic exchanges with South Korea. North Korea's actions come as South Korea and United States carry out their largest-ever military exercises running through late April, the Kyodo news agency reported.
The UN Security Council earlier this month adopted a fresh resolution imposing tougher economic sanctions on North Korea in reaction to its nuclear test in January and rocket launch in February and urging Pyongyang to refrain from such acts.