TOKYO, October 6. /TASS/. North Korea views recent missile test launches as a proper response to joint military drills of the United States and South Korea, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported citing an official statement of the Foreign Ministry of North Korea.
"The DPRK Foreign Ministry strongly condemns the US and its some satellites for unwarrantedly referring to the UNSC [the United Nations Security Council] the just counteraction measures of the Korean People's Army against south Korea-US joint drills escalating the military tensions on the Korean peninsula," the KCNA quoted the Foreign Ministry’s statement as saying.
The North Korean Foreign Ministry also condemned the return of the US naval strike group led by USS Ronald Reagan aircraft carrier to the waters of the Sea of Japan.
"The DPRK is watching the U.S. posing a serious threat to the stability of the situation on the Korean peninsula and in its vicinity by redeploying the carrier task force in the waters off the Korean peninsula," according to the statement.
North Korea was reported to conduct two ballistic missile tests earlier on Thursday. Both missiles were fired within a 15-minute interval.
According to Japanese Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada, one missile covered the distance of 350 kilometers at the maximum altitude of 100 kilometers, while the other flew at a distance of some 800 kilometers reaching the altitude of 50 kilometers.
This was 24th missile test of North Korea since the start of the year with the previous test launch taking place on October 4.
North Korea launched a missile on Tuesday that flew above northern Japan’s Aomori prefecture and fell in the Pacific Ocean outside of Japan’s exclusive economic zone. It was the first North Korean missile flying above Japan’s territory since September 2017. The presumed travel distance of the ballistic missile - about 4,600 kilometers - is believed to be the largest in the history of North Korean tests. The missile fell about 3,200 km away from the Japanese coast.