Just yesterday morning, Pyongyang launched two short-range missiles off the eastern sea of Nampo. Nampo is a city on the west coast of North Korea. The eastern sea is also known as the Sea of Japan.
We detected movements and identified launchers (Tels) "Nodong" in the northern province of Pyongan. We are monitoring the situation in view of possible real launches, although it is not easy to quickly detect missiles fired by mobile launchers.
North Korea launched two "Nodong" missiles in March last year. The first launches in almost five years. The "Nodong" single-stage ballistic missile has an estimated range of 1300 kilometers with a payload capacity of 700 kilograms, according to the intelligence services of South Korea and the United States.
The Key Resolve and Foal Eagle exercises will take place between March and April and will be monitored by the neutral supervisory commission of Australia, Canada, Denmark, France and the United Kingdom, in accordance with the armistice signed with North Korea in the 1953.
Key Resolve mobilizes about 10000 South Korean and 8600 American soldiers, while Foal Eagle, involves a series of maneuvers
The official Pyongyang statement
"Obama has subtly and maliciously called North Korea the 'most isolated and sanctioned dictatorial state on earth', after proclaiming further sanctions against our country through a presidential executive order. The outrageous and hateful pretexts for these restrictions are based on the fact that according to the United States we are in favor of terrorism. Having defined North Korea as the enemy of the United States, they never recognized our sovereignty and intensified hostile acts to bring down our social system. Long before inventing the nuclear issue, institutional and legal mechanisms were established against North Korea. Military scenarios and nuclear threats have been developed to bring down our ideology and our social system. This shows how the US hostile acts against North Korea have peaked. North Korea does not feel the need to sit at the negotiating table with them nor does it have any will to deal with the United States. It is necessary to come to terms with those who threaten the hysteria of a war while openly plotting to bring down North Korea through military actions. This is the determination of the army and the people of North Korea ".
Franco Iacch
