North Korea Launches Missiles in Response to US-South Korean Drills - Foreign Ministry

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - North Korea sees ballistic missile launches as a countermeasure to joint US-South Korean drills that are increasing tensions in the region, North Korean Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Thursday.

North Korea on Tuesday morning fired a ballistic missile that flew over the territory of Japan and fell in the Pacific Ocean. Last week Pyongyang also conducted several missile launches.

“The DPRK Foreign Ministry strongly condemns the U.S. and its some satellites for unwarrantedly referring to the UNSC the just counteraction measures of the Korean People's Army against south Korea-U.S. joint drills escalating the military tensions on the Korean peninsula,” the ministry said in a statement, published by the state-run Korean Central News Agency.

According to the ministry, the redeployment of the US forces to the shores of the Korean Peninsula poses a serious threat to stability in the region.

On Wednesday, the UN Security Council held a meeting on the North Korean missile lounches. While Western countries unequivocally condemned North Korea, the Russian and Chinese envoys said North Korea's ballistic missile launches are not random, pointing out that United States and its allies in the region have conducted joint military exercises that concern Pyongyang.

On September 25, Pyongyang launched a short-range ballistic missile for the first time since June 5 and conducted several missiles launches last week. The first test-launch was carried out amid the arrival of the USS Ronald Reagan carrier strike group to participate in the combined drills with the South Korean navy.

On Wednesday, a Pentagon official confirmed to Sputnik that the US carrier strike group led by USS Ronald Reagan has returned to the Sea of Japan after North Korea conducted ballistic missile launches.