Japanese Defense Minister: "North Korea Fired at Least 2 Missiles... Fell Outside EEZ"

Nobuo Kishi, Japanese Minister of Defense
Photo by EPA Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeong Hyunjin] On the morning of the 25th, Japanese Defense Minister Kishi Nobuo announced that North Korea fired at least two ballistic missiles into the East Sea, which are estimated to have fallen outside Japan's Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).

Defense Minister Kishi told reporters that "the first ballistic missile was launched at 5:59 a.m., reaching a maximum altitude of 550 km and flying about 300 km, while the second missile flew an irregular trajectory at a maximum altitude of 50 km for about 750 km, launched around 6:42 a.m." He added that there is a possibility of additional missile launches and that they are currently analyzing the situation. Japanese media reported that no damage to ships or other property has been reported.

Defense Minister Kishi stated, "North Korea has repeatedly conducted new types of launches at a very high frequency since the beginning of this year," and added, "These actions threaten the peace and stability of the region and the international community." Regarding the missile launches occurring immediately after the South Korea-U.S. and U.S.-Japan summits and the Quad summit, he said, "This is a clear provocation and absolutely unacceptable," strongly criticizing North Korea for focusing solely on missile development despite the spread of COVID-19.

The South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff reported that at around 6:00 a.m., 6:37 a.m., and 6:42 a.m. on the same day, they detected ballistic missiles launched from the Pyongyang Sunan area. Military authorities are currently identifying the specific specifications such as range and altitude of these three ballistic missiles.