North Korea Fires Ballistic Missiles Amid the US Military's Nuclear Warnings

As the United States military warned North Korea that using nuclear weapons "will result in the end of that regime," the latter launched two short-range ballistic missiles toward the sea on Friday, according to a report by AP.

This marks North Korea's first launch of ballistic weapons in two weeks.

"Grave Provocation"

The Joint Chiefs of Staff in Seoul said in a statement that the South Korean military discovered the two launches on Friday from the eastern coastal Tongchon area of the North. It claimed that both missiles traveled 230 kilometers (140 miles) in flight, reaching a maximum height of 24 kilometers (15 miles).

According to the statement, South Korea vehemently rejects the launches, calling them "a grave provocation" that threatens regional stability and contravenes U.N. Security Council's resolutions prohibiting North Korea from engaging in any ballistic activity.

The launches, according to the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, showed the "destabilizing impact" of North Korea's ballistic missile and nuclear weapons programs.

The Japanese Defense Ministry reported that it had also seen the launches and was still examining the kind of missiles employed as well as their flight data.

The foreign ministry of South Korea reported that shortly after the launches, its senior nuclear envoy spoke on the phone separately with his counterparts in the United States and Japan.

The ministry said that the three reiterated their demands for North Korea to halt conducting weapons tests and resume talks. They also decided to deepen trilateral coordination in the country, as per AP's report.

The North conducted back-to-back launches on the final day of the South's annual 12-day "Hoguk" field exercises, which this year also included an unknown number of American troops.

The launches were the North's first ballistic missile tests since Oct. 14, and the South Korean and American air forces intend to conduct a significant training exercise the following week as well.

Although Seoul and Washington claim their exercises are defensive in character, North Korea views their regular drills as preparation for an assault on the North.

Vigilant Storm

The "Vigilant Storm" aerial drills, which will take place next week from Monday to Friday, will feature roughly 140 South Korean and about 100 American aircraft, according to AP.

The planes include advanced fighter jets from both countries, including the F-35, the South Korean Defense Ministry said in a statement on Friday.

Since the end of September, North Korea has fired a volley of missiles into the ocean in what it has described as mock tests of tactical nuclear weapons systems intended to hit targets in South Korea and the U.S.

North Korea claims that its testing was done to serve as a warning following several South Korea-U.S. military exercises.

Any nuclear assault by North Korea against the U.S. or its allies and partners "will result in the end of that regime," according to a Thursday, Oct. 27, a report by the Pentagon's National Defense Strategy.

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Written by Joaquin Victor Tacla