SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea on Monday fired three medium-range missiles that traveled about 620 miles and landed near Japan in an apparent show of force timed to coincide with the Group of 20 economic summit in China, South Korean officials said.
North Korea has staged a series of recent missile tests with increasing range, part of a program that aims to eventually build long-range nuclear missiles capable of striking the U.S. mainland.
Such tests are fairly common when international attention is turned to Northeast Asia, and this one came as world leaders gathered in eastern China for the G-20 summit of advanced and emerging economies. China is North Korea’s only major ally, but ties between the neighbors have frayed amid a string of North Korean nuclear and missile tests and what many outsiders see as other provocations in recent years.
South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said that the three ballistic missiles, all believed to be Rodongs, were launched from the western North Korean town of Hwangju and flew across the country before splashing into the sea.
A Joint Chiefs of Staff statement described the launches as an “armed protest” meant to demonstrate military capability on the occasion of the G-20 summit and days before the North Korean government’s anniversary.
The U.S. State Department said Monday’s launch and other previous launches violate multiple United Nations Security Council resolutions prohibiting North Korea from launches using ballistic missile technology.
“We will raise our concerns at the UN about the threat posed to international security by these programs,” said spokesperson John Kirby in a statement.
The Security Council, meanwhile, scheduled a closed emergency meeting on the latest launches for today.
In August, another Rodong missile fired by North Korea also traveled about 620 miles, the longest-ever flight by that missile.
All three missiles Monday fell in Japan’s exclusive economic zone, the 200-nautical mile offshore area where a nation has sovereign rights for exploring and exploiting resources, according to Tokyo’s Defense Ministry.
Defense Minister Tomomi Inada said they fell off the northwestern coast of Hokkaido.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga called the launches a “serious threat” to Japanese security and said that Tokyo protested to North Korea via the Japanese Embassy in Beijing.
The United States also condemned the launches, saying it was discussing with allies the proper response and plans to raise concerns at the U.N. The U.S. also plans to bring up the issue during the East Asia summit in Laos this week.
