PYONGYANG (Dispatches) – North Korea has defended its recent back-to-back missile tests as a legitimate defense against military threats posed towards the country on the part of the United States.
“The missile test launch by the DPRK (Democratic People’s Republic of Korea) is a regular and planned self-defensive step for defending the country’s security and the regional peace from the U.S. direct military threats that have lasted for more than half a century,” the North’s civil aviation agency said on Saturday.
Pyongyang has conducted six ballistic missile launches in a matter of fewer than two weeks.
The most recent of the launches took place on Thursday, with the North firing two short-range ballistic missiles towards its east coast.
The missiles were fired in the direction of Japan, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff and the Japanese government reported at the time.
Also on Thursday, the Pentagon said the U.S., South Korea, and Japan had held joint military exercises aimed at simulating shooting down North Korean missiles.
The trilateral drills involved the USS Ronald Reagan Carrier’s strike group as well as one South Korean and two Japanese destroyers, the Pentagon said.
Earlier, Pyongyang fired an intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM) over Japan on Tuesday.
The missile fell into the Pacific Ocean after flying “over and past” the Japanese territory, prompting a warning for the area’s residents to take cover and a temporary suspension of train operations there.
Former U.S. president Donald Trump took unprecedented steps towards apparently fraternizing the North by initiating several rounds of dialog with it, and even walking a number of steps into the country alongside North Korea’s ruler Kim Jong-un.
However, Washington blew what Pyongyang called a “golden opportunity” at mending the situation by insisting too much on the North’s denuclearization. The emphasis prompted Pyongyang to discredit all the steps that had been taken by Trump as disingenuous and go back to its routinely fiery discourse towards Washington.
The development came as Japan’s Defense Ministry said on Saturday that Japan and the U.S. are conducting a joint military drill following North Korea’s repeated missile launches,.
The drill, which is taking place in areas around Japan, involves U.S. aircraft carrier Ronald Reagan as well as a Japanese destroyer.
The exercise has been underway since Oct. 1, according to a ministry announcement, which did not say when it is scheduled to end.