US Starts Deploying THAAD Anti-Missile Defense System in South Korea

The fourth of them fell near Japan’s EEZ, which extends 200 nautical miles (about 370 km) from Japan’s shores, the Japanese government said.

He said the DPRK was a “pariah” and an “outlier” in violation of multiple UN Security Council resolutions and “the countries represented in this room are not going to stand by and just let the DPRK violate global law”.

The launches “clearly show that this is a new level of threat” from North Korea, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told lawmakers in Tokyo.

“We deplore the continued violation of Security Council resolutions by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), including the most recent launches of ballistic missiles”, said United Nations spokesman Farhan Haq.

South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement that Monday’s launches were made from the Tongchang-ri area in North Phyongan province.

The missile launches came amid annual military drills involving USA and South Korean armed forces that the North regards as a rehearsal to an invasion.

A fully developed inter-continental ballistic missile could threaten the continental United States, which is about 9,000 kilometers (5,500 miles) from North Korea, reports Reuters.

North Korea’s missile launches coincided with massive joint military drills being carried out by the US and South Korea on the Korean Peninsula.

North Korea criticises the annual drills, calling them preparation for war against it. It’s common for North Korea to fire missiles during the drills, which are set to continue through April, and experts expect the North to launch several more missiles through then.

North Korea’s launch of four ballistic missiles today has fuelled regional tensions and demonstrated the country’s disregard for the peace and security of the region and the world, says Putrajaya.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un declared in a speech on New Year’s Day that his country’s program to build inter-continental ballistic missiles had “reached its final stage”.

Pyongyang has staged a series of missile test-launches of various ranges in recent months.

If the rhetoric and military posturing keeps up, the USA and North Korea are destined to collide, a senior Chinese politician reportedly said Wednesday local time.

Japan also plans to reinforce its ballistic missile defenses and is considering buying either THAAD or building a ground-based version of the Aegis system that is now deployed on ships in the Sea of Japan.