North Korea fires two ballistic missiles within three hours, escalating pressure on US and allies

North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles off its eastern coast on Sunday, roughly three hours apart, in its second set of missile tests in about a week — a double launch that came days after Pyongyang rejected a UN nuclear watchdog resolution and accused the United States of driving tensions on the Korean Peninsula.

South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff detected the first missile from the Wonsan area at approximately 3 p.m. local time (2 a.m. ET). South Korea's military assessed the projectile, which covered roughly 450 km (280 miles) in the direction of the East Sea, as likely belonging to the Hwasong-11 series. A second launch out of Wonsan at around 5:50 p.m. local time sent a missile more than 600 km (373 miles) before it came down outside Japan's exclusive economic zone. Both missiles landed in the sea, with no immediate threat to allied territory reported.

South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff and Japan's Defense Ministry both identified the projectiles as ballistic missiles. South Korean and US intelligence authorities tracked the launches from the outset and shared information with Japan, the Joint Chiefs said. Through embassy channels in Beijing, Japan filed a protest, Nikkei reported.

This series of North Korean actions threatens the peace and security of Japan, the region, and the international community.— Shinjiro Koizumi, Japanese Defense Minister

Calling the launches a direct violation of UN Security Council resolutions, South Korea's National Security Council denounced the tests and demanded Pyongyang halt missile activity at once. South Korea's presidential office echoed that call. According to the South's military, its forces stand prepared to counter any provocations in coordination with the US.

The launches follow a test on September 12 and come against a backdrop of escalating rhetoric. Kim Yo Jong — the influential sister of leader Kim Jong Un and a senior official — said on Friday that US-led military drills were responsible for "ever-worsening" tensions and pledged that North Korea would press ahead with building up its nuclear arsenal. Her remarks singled out the "Pacific Vanguard" exercise — a multinational drill involving the US, South Korea, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, and Canada — which she described as a "frantic military move" by the Americans to prolong their hegemony in the Asia-Pacific. A resolution by the UN nuclear watchdog targeting North Korea's nuclear program was rejected by Pyongyang on Saturday.

Our will to defend our sovereignty will be expressed in clearer action and there will be never ever change in the course of intensifying the nuclear war deterrence.— Kim Yo Jong, Senior North Korean Official

The tests also represent a pointed response to recent US diplomatic gestures. CBS News reported that President Trump reduced the scale of a joint military exercise with South Korea the previous month in what appeared to be a bid to restart talks with Kim Jong Un. Kim Yo Jong dismissed that gesture, arguing that cutting the drill short would not alter its "provocative, aggressive nature." In what appeared to be a follow-through on an earlier threat tied to the US-South Korean exercise, North Korea's military went on to fire roughly 10 short-range ballistic missiles into the sea. North Korea also staged what it described as a joint live-fire drill — incorporating missiles, artillery, and drones — earlier this month, one day after the US, South Korea, and Japan concluded a five-day trilateral military exercise.

Why it matters — The back-to-back launches — each missile flying farther than the last — signal that North Korea is actively expanding its short-range strike capabilities while rejecting both UN pressure and US diplomatic gestures, raising the stakes for allied security planning in the region.

Reported by cnn.com, lemonde.fr, cbsnews.com