Two ballistic missiles fired by North Korea fell in Japan's exclusive economic zone (EEZ), a vast maritime space around the Japanese archipelago, a senior Japanese Defense Ministry official said Thursday (June 15th).
"Two ballistic missiles fell in the EEZ," Kimi Onoda, parliamentary secretary to the defence minister, told reporters. This zone extends up to 200 nautical miles (370 km), between Japanese territorial waters and international waters.
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said the firing did not cause any damage, but strongly condemned it. These "violate UN Security Council resolutions and constitute a reckless act that aggravates (Pyongyang's) provocations against the international community," Kishida told reporters. Japan has "strongly protested" to North Korea, he added.
"Military reconnaissance satellite"
Pyongyang regularly launches missiles in the region, which is systematically condemned by its neighbors, South Korea and Japan, both close to U.S. allies.
However, it had been several months since North Korean missiles had fallen in the Japanese EEZ.
Two weeks ago, Pyongyang also tried, unsuccessfully, to send a "military reconnaissance satellite" into space, which had mistakenly caused missile alerts in Seoul and Okinawa (southwestern Japan).
White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan also arrived in Tokyo on Thursday for talks with his counterparts from Japan, the Philippines and South Korea.
With AFP
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