North Korea test-fires 2 ballistic missiles as US sends aircraft carrier

Seoul, March 27

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North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles into its eastern waters on Monday, continuing its weapons displays as the United States moved an aircraft carrier strike group to neighbouring waters for military exercises with the South.

South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said the two missiles were fired from a western inland area south of the North Korean capital of Pyongyang from around 7.47 am to 8 am and travelled around 370 km before landing at sea. Japan’s military said the missiles flew on an “irregular” trajectory and reached a maximum altitude of 50 km before landing outside Japan’s exclusive economic zone.

Japan has previously used the term to describe a North Korean solid-fuel missile apparently modelled after Russia’s Iskander mobile ballistic system, which is designed to be manoeuvrable in low-altitude flight to better evade South Korean missile defences.

The launches came a day before the American aircraft carrier USS Nimitz and its strike group are to arrive at the South Korean port of Busan. South Korea’s Defence Ministry said the Nimitz and its strike group would participate in exercises with South Korean warships on April 3 in international waters near the South Korean resort island of Jeju.

The launches were the North’s seventh missile event this month and underscore heightening tensions in the region as the pace of both North Korean weapons tests and the US-South Korea joint military exercises has accelerated in recent months in a cycle of tit-for-tat responses.