The Defense Ministries of Japan and South Korea reported that on the morning of September 18, North Korea launched several short-range ballistic missiles. According to the Japanese Ministry of Defense, the missiles fell near the east coast of the interior of North Korea. This was reported by Reuters, according to UNN.
Details
The Japanese Ministry of Defense reported that the missiles were launched from the interior of the country at 6:53 and 7:23 am. None of them hit Japan's exclusive economic zone. Japan's Defense Minister Minoru Kihara told reporters that there was no information about the damage and said that Japan had protested to North Korea through diplomatic channels.
South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff reported that the missiles were launched at 6:50 a.m. from Kaesong, South Pyongyang-do Province, in a northeasterly direction and flew about 400 kilometers. The number of missiles and the place of their landing were not specified.
South Korea's statement said that “North Korea's missile launch is a clear provocation that seriously threatens peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula” and emphasized its strong protest. It was also noted that in the event of further provocations, decisive measures would be taken in response.
The U.S. Indo-Pacific Command in its post on the X platform reported that it was aware of the missile launch and was in close coordination with Japan and South Korea.
This is the second launch of ballistic missiles or suspected ballistic missiles by North Korea this month, following a similar incident on September 12. The next day, North Korea announced that it had tested a new 600mm multiple launch rocket system.
South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff also suggested that the test could have been conducted to test missiles that could be delivered to Russia.