The launches are the latest in a series of North Korean weapons tests in recent months that have raised tensions in the region. They came a day after Pyongyang launched more than 20 missiles, the most it has ever launched in a single day. South Korea’s General Staff said it detected the North firing an ICBM from an area near the capital Pyongyang around 7:40 a.m. and then firing two short-range missiles an hour later from the nearby city of Kacheon that flew into the eastern waters. The longer-range missile appeared to be launched at a wide angle, possibly to avoid entering neighboring territory, reaching a maximum height of 1,920 kilometers (1,193 miles) and traveling about 760 kilometers (472 miles), according to South Korea’s military. It was not immediately clear whether the launch was successful. Japanese Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada announced similar flight details, but said his military lost track of the weapon after it “disappeared” in the skies over the waters between the Korean Peninsula and Japan. Choi Yong-soo, a South Korean navy captain who handles public affairs for Seoul’s defense ministry, did not directly respond when asked if the military believed the launch may have failed with the missile exploding in midair, saying the test was still under analysis. Citing unnamed military sources, South Korea’s Yonhap news agency said the missile likely failed to maintain normal flight after stage separation. The Japanese government initially feared the ICBM would fly over its northern territory, but later adjusted its assessment. Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said the alerts were based on a trajectory analysis that showed an overshoot. Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s office broadcast alerts via television, radio, cellphones and public loudspeakers to residents of the northern prefectures of Miyagi, Yamagata and Niigata, ordering them to go indoors or underground. No damage or injuries have been reported from areas where warnings have been issued. Bullet train services in these areas were temporarily suspended following the missile warning before resuming soon. Kishida condemned the North’s launches and said officials were analyzing the details of the weapons. South Korean President Yun Suk-yeol’s office said national security director Kim Sung-han discussed the launches during an emergency security meeting where members talked about plans to strengthen the country’s defenses in conjunction with its alliance with the United States . The bureau said South Korea would maintain its joint military exercises with the United States in response to North Korea’s stepped-up testing activity, which it said would only deepen the North’s international isolation and unleash further economic shock on its people. Adrienne Watson, spokeswoman for the US National Security Council, issued a statement saying the United States strongly condemns the North’s ICBM test and that President Joe Biden and his national security team are assessing the situation in close coordination with allies and partners. “This launch, in addition to the launch of several other ballistic missiles this week, is in flagrant violation of multiple UN Security Council resolutions and unnecessarily escalates tensions and risks destabilizing the security situation in the region,” Watson said. He said the United States would take all necessary measures to ensure the security of the American homeland and allies South Korea and Japan. One of more than 20 missiles fired by North Korea on Wednesday flew toward an inhabited South Korean island and landed near the rivals’ tense maritime border, setting off air raid sirens and forcing residents on Ulleung Island to evacuate. South Korea quickly responded by firing missiles of its own into the same border area. Those launches came hours after North Korea threatened to use nuclear weapons to make the US and South Korea “pay the most horrific price in history” in protest at ongoing South Korea-US military exercises which it sees as a rehearsal for possible invasion. North Korea has stepped up its weapons displays at a record pace this year. It has launched dozens of missiles, including its first intercontinental ballistic missile display since 2017, as it takes advantage of the distraction created by Russia’s war in Ukraine and a pause in diplomacy to advance weapons development and pressure the United States and their Asia. allies. The North has punctuated its tests with a nuclear escalation doctrine that allows for pre-emptive nuclear strikes in a variety of loosely defined crisis situations. US and South Korean officials say North Korea may up the ante in the coming weeks with the first detonation of a nuclear test device since September 2017. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke by phone with South Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin about Wednesday’s missile launches, including one that “carelessly and dangerously” landed near South Korea’s coastline, and stressed an “ironclad” commitment of the US for the security of its ally, according to their offices. State Department spokesman Ned Price also expressed concerns about North Korea’s possible preparations for another nuclear test, which would be its seventh overall. Experts say such tests could potentially bring North Korea one step closer to its goal of building a full arsenal that threatens US regional allies and the American homeland. “If he goes ahead with a seventh nuclear test, there will be additional costs and consequences,” Price said, noting that the test would be a “dangerous, reckless, destabilizing act.” North Korea last fired a missile over Japan in October in what it described as a test of a new intermediate-range ballistic missile that experts say could potentially reach Guam, a major US military hub in the Pacific. This launch forced the Japanese government to issue evacuation notices and halt train services. Experts say North Korea is escalating a spike aimed at forcing the United States to accept the idea of the North as a nuclear power and to negotiate economic and security concessions from a position of strength. Nuclear talks between Washington and Pyongyang have stalled since early 2019 over disagreements over the exchange of crippling US-led sanctions against the North and the North’s denuclearization steps. The North has so far ignored the Biden administration’s calls for open talks, insisting that Washington must first drop its “hostile” policy, a term used primarily by North Korea to describe sanctions and combined U.S.- South Korea. White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby emphasized Wednesday that the Biden administration has repeatedly sought to communicate with North Korean officials through the diplomatic channel and has made clear that “we are willing to sit down with North Korea without preconditions to discuss the denuclearization of the peninsula”. —— Yamaguchi reported from Tokyo. AP writers Aamer Madhani and Ellen Knickmeyer contributed to this story from Washington.
