North Korea launches several ballistic missiles with short range

North Korea shot many missiles into the ocean on Monday morning. They did this after the South Korean and US military exercises ended. North Korea sees these exercises as practice for invading their country.

North Korea tested missiles for the first time in a month. Experts thought that North Korea would keep testing missiles and talking aggressively before the US presidential election in November. They wanted to have more power in future talks with the US.

The leader of Japan, Fumio Kishida, said that North Korea launched several ballistic missiles into the sea between Korea and Japan. He said the missiles landed far from Japan’s area that belongs only to them for making money, and no one got hurt or things got broken.

Japan’s Defense Ministry reported that North Korea shot three missiles, with two of them launched at the same time at 7:44 am and the second one about 37 minutes after. They went 350 kilometers (about 220 miles) at the top speed of 50 kilometers (about 30 miles) per hour.

Kishida criticized North Korea for doing lots of missile tests. He said it’s making Japan and the world unsafe. Japan is really mad at North Korea and they think it’s breaking the rules from the UN that say North Korea can’t do any missile activities.

South Korea’s military found some potential short-range missile launches by North Korea on Monday morning. The leaders of the military in South Korea said their troops are keeping a close watch and working closely with the military in the United States and Japan.

During the military exercises between South Korea and the US, Kim Jong Un from North Korea led some military training with tanks, guns and paratroopers. The 11-day meeting between South Korea and the United States. The drills included training on a computer and 48 different field exercises, which is twice as many as last year.

The North didn’t test any missiles while their rivals were training. North Korea has been testing missiles and trying to put nuclear warheads on them to attack the US and its friends. These tests are seen as very serious. Lots of experts believe that North Korea has nuclear missiles that can reach South Korea and Japan, but they don’t have any missiles that can reach the US yet.

Before Monday’s launches, North Korea tested missiles in mid-February by shooting cruise missiles into the sea.

Tensions are still high between North and South Korea because North Korea has been testing a lot of missiles since 2022. Several tests were done with missiles that can carry nuclear weapons and are meant to be used against South Korea and the US. In response, the US and South Korea have increased their training exercises.

This year, North Korea tested missiles six times before Monday’s launch.

Specialists believe that North Korea probably thinks having more weapons would give them more power in negotiations with the United States. They say North Korea wants to get rid of strict punishments while still keeping its nuclear weapons.

People are more worried about North Korea’s military actions because Kim said in a speech in January that he wants to change the constitution to get rid of the country’s goal of peacefully joining the Korean Peninsula and make South Korea its main enemy. He also said the new rules should say that North Korea would take over the South if there was another war.

Some people think North Korea might do small, aggressive actions near its border with South Korea. However, they say the chances of North Korea launching a big attack are low because it knows that its military is not as strong as the US and South Korean forces.