North Korea fires two more missiles towards Japan

Pyongyang, Oct 06: North Korea launched two short-range ballistic missiles in the direction of Japan on Thursday, South Korean authorities said.

It comes after North Korea fired a single intermediate-range ballistic missile over Japan on Tuesday. All three missiles landed in the sea.

"This is the sixth time in the short period just counting the ones from the end of September," Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida told reporters. "This absolutely cannot be tolerated."

China, Russia accused of enabling Kim

The missile launch coincided with the United States accusing China and Russia of enabling North Korea's Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un.

"The DPRK (North Korea) has enjoyed blanket protection from two members of this council," US ambassador to the United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, said at a Security Council meeting.

"In short, two permanent members of the Security Council have enabled Kim Jong Un."

China's deputy UN ambassador Geng Shuang called for dialogue "instead of relying solely on strong rhetoric or pressure."

Meanwhile, Russia's deputy UN ambassador Anna Evstigneeva told the Security Council that "introducing new sanctions against the DPRK is a dead end" that would bring "zero result." She said North Korea's launch on Tuesday was prompted by the "irresponsibility" of US-led military drills in the region.

Escalating military tensions

The reports follow a similar missile launch over Japan on Tuesday. South Korea and the United States retaliated with joint missile launches on Wednesday.

An hour before the missile launch on Thursday, North Korea's Foreign Ministry accused Seoul and Washington of "escalating the military tensions on the Korean Peninsula" by conducting the largest joint military drills in five years.

North Korea also condemned the US for repositioning its newest aircraft carrier, the USS Ronald Reagan, off the coast of South Korea.

Source: DW