North Korea tests two ballistic missiles after new exercise between the United States, South Korea and Japan ends

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea test-fired two ballistic missiles Monday, but one of them may have flown abnormally, the South Korean military said, a day after the North vowed “offensive and overwhelming” responses to a new U.S. military exercise with South Korea and Japan.

The Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement that the missiles were launched 10 minutes apart in a northeasterly direction from the city of Jangyon in southeastern North Korea.

The first missile traveled 600 kilometers (370 miles) and the second missile 120 kilometers (75 miles), but it did not say where they landed. North Korea usually tests missiles towards its eastern waters, but the flight distance of the second missile was too short to reach these waters.

Joint Chiefs of Staff spokesman Lee Sung Joon later said in a briefing that the second missile suffered an abnormal trajectory during the initial phase of its flight. He said that if the missile had exploded, its debris would likely have scattered on the ground, although no damage was immediately reported. Lee said additional analysis of the second missile launch was underway.

South Korean media reported, citing unidentified South Korean military sources, that the second missile likely crashed in an inland area of ​​the North. The first missile landed in waters off the eastern city of Chongjin.

The Joint Chiefs of Staff condemned the North Korean launches, calling them provocations that pose a serious threat to peace on the Korean Peninsula. They said South Korea remains firmly ready to repel any provocation from North Korea, linked to its military alliance with the United States.

The launches came two days after South Korea, the United States and Japan ended their new multi-domain trilateral exercises in the region. In recent years, the three countries have expanded their trilateral security partnership to better address North Korea's evolving nuclear threats and China's growing assertiveness in the region.

The Freedom Edge exercise was meant to increase the sophistication of previous exercises by simultaneously holding air and naval exercises aimed at improving ballistic missile defense, anti-submarine warfare, surveillance and other skills and capabilities. The three-day exercise involved a U.S. aircraft carrier as well as destroyers, fighter jets and helicopters from the three countries.

On Sunday, North Korea's foreign ministry issued a lengthy statement strongly denouncing the “Freedom Edge” exercise, calling the U.S.-South Korea-Japan partnership the Asian version of NATO. It said the exercise openly destroyed the security environment on the Korean Peninsula and contained a U.S. intent to besiege China and exert pressure on Russia.

The statement said North Korea “will firmly defend sovereignty, security and state interests as well as peace in the region through offensive and overwhelming countermeasures.”

Monday's shootings were the North's first weapons launches in five days. North Korea launched what it called a multiple-warhead missile on Wednesday in the first known test of an advanced developmental weapon intended to defeat U.S. and South Korean missile defenses. North Korea said the launch was a success, but South Korea rejected the claim, calling it a deception intended to cover up a failed launch.

In recent weeks, North Korea has launched numerous balloons containing trash toward South Korea, in what it has described as a retaliatory response to South Korean activists sending political leaflets via their own balloons. Last month, North Korea and Russia also reached an agreement providing for mutual defense assistance in the event of an attack by either side, a major defense deal that has sparked fears to encourage Kim to launch further provocations against South Korea.

Meanwhile, North Korea opened a key ruling party meeting Friday to determine what it called “important and immediate issues” related to work to further strengthen socialism with Korean characteristics. Observers said the meeting will continue Monday.

Hyung-jin Kim, Associated Press