North Korea Threatens To Turn Pacific Into “Firing Range” After Latest Missile Test

North Korea launched two more ballistic missiles off its east coast on Monday. The powerful sister of leader Kim Jong Un warned US forces to halt military drills, saying the reclusive nuclear state could turn the Pacific into a “firing range.”

The launches come just two days after North Korea launched an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) into the sea off Japan's west coast, prompting the US to conduct joint air exercises with South Korea and Japan on Sunday.

North Korea's state media confirmed the launch of two projectiles from a multiple rocket launcher, aimed at targets 395 kilometres (245 miles) and 337 kilometres (209 miles) away, respectively.

“The 600mm multiple rocket launcher used in the firing... is a tactical nuclear weapon capable of “paralysing” an enemy airfield,” according to state news agency KCNA.

According to Japan's Defence Ministry, the two missiles launched around 2200 GMT, reached maximum altitudes of about 100 km and 50 km, respectively, before falling outside Japan's EEZ.

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said he had requested an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council to discuss the tests, and the Jiji news agency said the meeting was scheduled for 2000 GMT Monday.

However, given Russia and China's previous vetoes during the Ukraine crisis and a Sino-US feud over Chinese balloons discovered in American skies, the prospects for a new round of UN sanctions appear slim.

The Joint Chiefs of Staff of South Korea strongly condemned the launches as a “grave provocation” that should be stopped immediately.

On Monday, Seoul's foreign ministry announced sanctions against four individuals and five entities linked to Pyongyang's weapons programmes in response to the latest ICBM and missile tests, calling it the country's fastest-ever response to the North's provocations.

“Our government has clarified that North Korea's provocations will not go unpunished. Its repeated provocations will bolster South Korean-US deterrence and tighten the global sanctions network,” the ministry said in a statement.

According to the US Indo-Pacific Command, the latest launch does not pose an immediate threat but highlights North Korea's “destabilising impact” of illegal weapons programmes.

UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric urged Pyongyang to “immediately cease any further provocative actions” prohibited by Security Council resolutions and to resume denuclearisation talks.