• North Korea fires two short-range ballistic missiles toward Japan.
• The move comes after South Korea and the U.S. conducted rare missile drills east of North Korea.
• The US accused China and Russia of aiding North Korean leader Kim Jong Un by stalling U.N. sanctions.

North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles toward Japan on Thursday in reaction to South Korean and U.S. missile drills and the return of a U.S. aircraft carrier to the region.

The missile launch was the first since Tuesday when North Korea flew an intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM) over Japan.

South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff and the Japanese government reported the launch.

“This is the sixth time in the short period just counting the ones from the end of September,” Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida told reporters. “This absolutely cannot be tolerated.”

The launch occurred around an hour after North Korea chastised the United States for discussing Pyongyang’s “just counteraction measures of the Korean People’s Army on south Korea-U.S. joint drills” with the United Nations Security Council.

North Korea’s foreign ministry said repositioning a U.S. aircraft carrier near Korean waters threatened stability.

After South Korea and the U.S. conducted rare missile drills east of North Korea, the USS Ronald Reagan was redeployed. This is one of the allies’ harshest reactions to a North Korean bomb test since 2017.

The US accused China and Russia of aiding North Korean leader Kim Jong Un by stalling U.N. Security Council sanctions over Pyongyang’s nuclear and missile programs.

Japanese Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada stated that Tokyo made a “vehement protest” to North Korea via delegations in Beijing.

The first missile on Thursday likely flew 100 km high and 350 km, while the second flew 50 km high and 800 km in an erratic trajectory, he said.

Numerous of North Korea’s most recent short-range ballistic missiles (SRBMs) is designed to fly on a lower, depressed trajectory and potentially maneuver, making their detection and interception more difficult.

“North Korea has relentlessly and unilaterally escalated its provocation, especially since the beginning of this year,” Hamada told reporters

The JCS of South Korea stated that the missiles were launched from an area close to Pyongyang, the capital of North Korea.

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