A top Pentagon spokesman issued a statement on Thursday in which he said that the most recent North Korean missile test was short – to a medium-range ballistic missile fired from a sea-based platform.
Joint Chiefs of Staff spokesman Air Force Col. Patrick Ryder talked with the reporters and said that North Korea launched the missile from its southern Wonsan Bay and that the missile flew about 280 miles into the Sea of Japan which is also known as the East Sea. On the other hand, earlier on Thursday, officials from North Korea said that they had successfully tested a new submarine-launched ballistic missile a day prior, the state media outlet KCNA reported.
Patrick Ryder also said that the Pentagon has no indication that it was launched from a submarine, but rather a sea-based platform.
Jonathan Hoffman who is a top Pentagon spokesman said that Defense Secretary Mark Esper spoke with the Defense Secretary of Japan earlier that day on the subject.
According to The Hill, the two agreed that tests are unnecessarily provocative and not helpful in an effort to get the North Koreans back on a diplomatic path. The test came a day after the State Department announced that Washington and Pyongyang would hold talks on curtailing North Korea’s nuclear program following a months-long stalemate and multiple missile tests.
Be the first to comment