Pentagon Comments on North Korean Missile Launch
U.S. Eighth Army and South Korean army personnel today conducted a second combined training event to exercise assets in view of today’s North Korean intercontinental ballistic missile launch, Eighth Army officials announced Friday.
This exercise once again utilized the Army Tactical Missile System and South Korea’s Hyunmoo Missile II, which fired missiles into territorial waters of South Korea along the country’s eastern coast on July 5.
The Defense Department detected and tracked a single North Korea missile launch Friday at about 10:41 a.m. EDT, Pentagon spokesman Navy Capt. Jeff Davis said in a statement.
The department believes the missile was an intercontinental ballistic missile, as had been expected, Davis said.
Davis said the missile was launched from Mupyong-ni, and traveled about 620 miles before splashing down in the Sea of Japan. The Defense Department, he added, is working with its interagency partners on a more detailed assessment.
No Threat to North America
The North American Aerospace Defense Command determined the missile launch from North Korea did not pose a threat to North America, Davis said.
The United States’ commitment to the defense of its allies, including South Korea and Japan, in the face of these threats, remains ironclad, the spokesman said.
The United States also remains prepared to defend itself and its allies from any attack or provocation, he added.
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