South Korea conducts major missile test after North Korean launches

The announcement followed two North Korean ballistic missile launches detected by South Korea earlier Wednesday

North Korea sowcases missiles during a military parade in Pyongyang, North Korea. File photo

South Korea on Wednesday, September 15, 2021 said it had carried out its first underwater-launched missile test, hours after rival North Korea fired two ballistic missiles toward the sea.

President Moon Jae-in's office said in a statement that Moon observed the test of a domestically built submarine-launched ballistic missile on Wednesday afternoon.

It says the missile fired from a 3,000-tonne-class submarine flew a previously set distance before hitting a designated target.

The announcement followed two North Korean ballistic missile launches detected by South Korea earlier Wednesday

North Korea fires two missiles

Earlier, North Korea fired two ballistic missiles off its east coast on Wednesday, South Korea’s military said,

two days after the North claimed to have tested a new missile in its first weapons test in six months.

The two ballistic missiles launched from a site in central North Korea flew toward the waters of the Korean Peninsula’s east coast on Wednesday afternoon, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement.

The statement said South Korean and U.S. intelligence authorities are analyzing more details about the North Korean launches. It said South Korea has boosted its anti-North Korea surveillance posture.

Japan's coast guard confirmed the objects both landed outside Japanese Exclusive Economic Zone in the waters between Japan and the Korean Peninsula. No ships or aircraft reported damage, the Coast Guard said.

The North’s resumption of testing activity is likely an attempt at pressuring the Biden administration over the diplomatic freeze after Kim failed to leverage his arsenal for economic benefits during the presidency of Donald Trump.

North Korea ended a yearlong pause in ballistic tests in March by firing two short-range ballistic missiles into the sea, continuing a tradition of testing new U.S. administrations with weapons demonstrations aimed at measuring Washington’s response and wresting concessions.

Outrageous, says Japan PM Suga

Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga on Wednesday called North Korea's ballistic missile launch "outrageous", and strongly condemned the action as a threat to peace and security of the region.