N. Korea Fires Weapons After Threat of 'Momentous Action'

Japan says at least 3 ballistic missiles were fired
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Mar 9, 2020 12:52 AM CDT
N. Korea Fires Weapons After Threat of 'Momentous Action'
People watch a TV showing an image of a North Koreanmissile launch during a news program at the Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea, Monday, March 9, 2020.   (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

North Korea fired three short-range projectiles off its east coast on Monday, South Korea’s military said, two days after the North threatened to take “momentous” action to protest outside condemnation over its earlier live-fire exercises. Seoul’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said the three launches were made from an eastern coastal town in the North’s South Hamgyong province. It said the multiple kinds of projectiles flew as far as 125 miles at a maximum altitude of 30 miles. South Korea's national security director, defense minister, and spy chief held an emergency video conference and agreed the North Korean actions were not helpful to efforts to establish peace on the Korean Peninsula, the AP reports.

Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said the North Korean launches were likely ballistic. He said Japan detected multiple projectiles that traveled 62 to 125 miles but none landed inside Japan’s exclusive economic zone. On Saturday, Pyongyang condemned European members of the UN Security Council including France and Germany for criticizing its March 1 launch. "The reckless behavior of these countries instigated by the US will become a fuse that will trigger ... yet another momentous reaction," North Korea's Foreign Ministry said. Last week, Kim Jong Un's younger sister leveled diatribes and crude insults against South Korea for criticizing its earlier live-fire exercises, but her statement was followed by Kim sending a letter to South Korean President Moon Jae-in expressing condolences over its coronavirus outbreak.

(More North Korea stories.)

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