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North Korea has fired four ballistic missiles into waters off its east coast, according to South Korea and Japan.
Key points:
- South Korea said there is a low chance the missiles are intercontinental ballistic missiles
- US military tracked the missile launch, and concluded there was no threat to North America
- Three of the four missiles landed in Japan's exclusive economic zone
The launch was an apparent reaction to huge military drills by the US and South Korea that the North insists are an invasion rehearsal.
The US military said it detected and tracked what it assessed was a North Korean missile launch, but added the launch did not pose a threat to North America.
US Strategic Command spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Martin O'Donnell said US forces remained "vigilant in the face of North Korean provocations and are fully committed to working closely with our Republic of Korea and Japanese allies to maintain security".
South Korea's military said there was a low chance the missiles were intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs).
Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said three of the four missiles landed inside Japan's exclusive economic zone.
"The latest launches of ballistic missiles clearly demonstrate evidence of a new threat from North Korea," Mr Abe said.
Moscow joined the chorus of condemnation.
"Definitely, we are seriously worried — these are the sort of actions that lead to a rise in tension in the region and of course in this situation, traditionally, Moscow calls for restraint from all sides," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told a conference call with reporters.
Launch the latest in a series of tests
Pyongyang has staged a series of missile test-launches of various ranges in recent months.
The ramped-up tests come as leader Kim Jong-un pushes for a nuclear and missile program that can deter what he calls US and South Korean hostility toward the North.
Seoul and Washington call their military drills on the Korean Peninsula, which remains in a technical state of war because the 1950-53 Korean War ended with an armistice and not a peace treaty, defensive and routine.
The South Korean military said the missiles were launched from Tongchang-ri in the North Korean republic, where a military base is located.
North Korea test-launched a new intermediate-range missile in February and conducted two nuclear tests last year.
There has also been widespread worry that the North will conduct a test of an ICBM that, if perfected, could in theory reach US shores.
Washington would consider such a capability a major threat.
The United States has 28,500 troops stationed in South Korea as a deterrent against a potential aggression from the North.
AP
Topics: unrest-conflict-and-war, world-politics, korea-democratic-people-s-republic-of, korea-republic-of, japan
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