North Korea fired two suspected powerful new midrange ballistic missiles on Tuesday that both failed over the Sea of Japan, U.S. officials said.
(FOX)- U.S. Strategic Command spokesman Ltc. Martin L. O’Donnell said in a statement the two launches from the east coast city of Wonsan, which took place at 4:56 p.m. ET and 7:03 p.m. ET, did not pose a threat to North America.
The missiles were tracked over the Sea of Japan, where indications are they fell, according to O’Donnell.
The Musudan missile has a potential 2,180-mile range that could target much of Asia and the Pacific, including U.S military bases in the region. The launch on Tuesday was the fifth Musadan launch by the North Koreans to fail.
State Department spokesman John Kirby condemned the launches, and said the U.S. continues to assess the situation.
“We strongly condemn these and North Korea’s other recent missile tests, which violate UN Security Council Resolutions explicitly prohibiting North Korea’s launches using ballistic missile technology,” Kirby said in a statement.