North Korea Fires 2 Mid-Range Ballistic Missiles In Eastern Waters

North Korea has fired  two medium-range ballistic missile into east waters of which one appears to have blown up mid-flight.

The missile was launched around 5.55 a.m. local time from the western area of Sukcheon, South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) was quoted as saying by Yonhap news agency Friday.

"The missile dropped into waters within the Japanese Air Defense Identification Zone," the JCS said.

Military sources said the North did not declare a no-sail zone for the launch - it is required under international conventions to give prior warnings to ships passing through the area.

About 22 minutes after the first launch, the South Korean military's radar detected what appeared to be a second missile fired from the same area. But the radar lost track of it at an altitude of 17 km, the JCS said.

The missile was fired from a mobile launcher and flew about 800 km before falling off the DPRK’s east coast. It is believed to be Rodong ballistic missile based on the flying distance.

The Rodong missile with a maximum range of about 1,300 km is capable of targeting major cities in Japan.The ballistic missile could carry high explosives or chemical ammunition in its warhead.

Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida was quoted as saying by Chinese Sina news that his country has lodged protest to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) over its ballistic missile firing earlier this morning, saying the move violated UN Security Council resolutions.

Japan convened its national security council immediately after the missile firing and instructed relevant government ministries to work with South Korea and United States to collect and analyze information related to the firing.

Pyongyang fired off two short-range ballistic missiles, estimated to have been Scud missiles, on March 10, three days after the joint U.S.-South Korea annual war games kicked off.

The Key Resolve command post exercise is set to end on Friday, but the Foal Eagle field training exercise is scheduled to last until April 30.