Provokation North Korea apparently fires several rockets off

North Korea has again tested several ballistic missiles according to South Korean and Japanese data. Japan and South Korea spoke of four such rockets that North Korea had fired toward the Japanese Sea (East Sea). The projectiles were launched in the western part of the country and were flown about 1,000 kilometers, a defense ministry spokesman said in Seoul. Japan imposed a "strong protest".

The type of missiles was initially unclear, but the US announced that it did not indicate that they were intercontinental rockets. These data are still being analyzed by South Korea and the United States

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North Korea , which is internationally isolated because of its nuclear program, missile tests using ballistic rocket technology are prohibited by UN resolutions. The country is working on the development of medium- and long-range missiles, which can carry an atomic warhead not only to South Korea and Japan, but to the USA.

According to the Japanese government, three of the rockets invaded the so-called Exclusive Economic Zone of Japan. This would have led the rockets into the sea at a distance of less than 200 miles (some 322 kilometers) off the coast of the country.

Possibly responding to "Foal Eagle" maneuvers

The tests were a "serious threat to the security of our country," said Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in the Japanese parliament. Already last year, a North Korean medium-range rocket had reached the 200-mile zone. In South Korea, the presidential president and Prime Minister Hwang Kyo Ahn convened a meeting of the National Security Council. Later, the country announced to station the US missile defense system THAAD , despite Chinese objections .

South Korea's military suspected that North Korea's rocket tests could also be a protest against the ongoing maneuvers of the South Korean and American armed forces. The two-month spring maneuver "Foal Eagle" started on Wednesday in South Korea. North Korea regularly instructs the US and South Korea to prepare an attack with their annual military exercises, which both countries deny.

North Korea had triggered a worldwide outrage in February with the test of a "medium range rocket of greater reach" . The UN Security Council had severely condemned the test . The highest body of the United Nations also called on members to implement the sanctions against the country in a consistent manner. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un had declared after the test that the country now has "another powerful means for an atomic attack".