Seoul: North Korea Launched Ballistic Missiles
South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff announces that North Korea launched a ballistic missile off its east coast.
South Korean and Japanese officials said North Korea launched a ballistic missile off its east coast on Tuesday.
Seoul's Joint Chiefs of Staff stated that the missile was launched around the city of Sinpo, where Pyongyang maintains submarines and equipment to test-launch ballistic missiles.
"South Korean and US intelligence are closely analyzing for additional detail," said the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
North Korea fired at least one ballistic missile off its east coast, South Korea and Japan confirmed Tuesday.https://t.co/ctX2JeMXXC
— DW News (@dwnews) October 19, 2021
For his part, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said two ballistic missiles had been fired, and called the launch "very regrettable."
In addition, US Indo-Pacific Command said the US "condemns these actions" and called on North Korea "to refrain from any further destabilizing acts."
A week ago, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un said that Pyongyang needs its arsenal to defend itself against a possible US invasion, adding that the US is the "root cause" of tensions in the Korean Peninsula.
Earlier, Seoul considered calls to declare the end of the Korean War "premature," justifying that there are no guarantees that this declaration will end the hostile US policy toward Pyongyang, according to North Korea's deputy foreign minister.