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North Korea conducts another missile launch — Japan

Japanese government is gathering and analyzing information related to launch

TOKYO, August 24. /TASS/. North Korea carried out another launch on Saturday, presumably of ballistic missiles, the Japanese government reported.

"The missiles failed to reach neither our territorial waters, nor our country’s exclusive economic zone," Japan’s public television quoted a government spokesperson as saying.

At present, the Japanese government is gathering and analyzing related information.

The Japanese Defense Ministry confirmed a ballistic launch by North Korea, adding that it posed no threat to Japan’s security.

"This launch is a clear violation of UN Security Council resolutions," Japanese Defense Minister Takeshi Iwaya told reporters in Tokyo.

The country's Foreign Ministry said it had expressed a "resolute protest" over North Korea's actions.

South Korea’s Yonhap news agency reported, citing the joint chiefs of staff, that the Communist state launched two projectiles, presumed to be short-range ballistic missiles, into the Sea of Japan.

The missiles covered the distance of about 380 kilometers, reaching the maximum altitude of 97 kilometers, the agency said.

South Korea’s National Security Council, which gathered for an emergency session in the wake of the launch, said in a statement that it would continue to analyze data jointly with the United States to determine the exact type of projectiles and other details.

"The participants of the session, chaired by council head Chung Eui-yong, express their serious concern about new launches and call upon North Korea to refrain from measures that may cause the tensions to escalate," the South Korean presidential administration said in a statement.

A spokesman for US military forces in South Korea said Washington was aware of the launch and was consulting with Seoul and Tokyo on the issue.

"We are aware of a North Korean missile launch this morning into the East Sea, will continue to monitor the situation and are consulting closely with our South Korean and Japanese allies," US-South Korean Combined Forces Command (CFC) Spokesperson Col. Lee Peters told TASS when asked to comment on the situation.

North Korea resumed its missile tests this summer. The previous launch, during which two short-range missiles covered the distance of about 400 kilometers, took place on August 10.