North Korea launches two ballistic missiles

North Korea launched two ballistic missiles early on Wednesday morning, the U.S. military confirmed, though neither posed a direct threat to the U.S. or its allies.

One of the Rodong intermediate-range missiles exploded immediately after launch near the western city of Hwangju, according to U.S. Strategic Command, while the second is believed to have splashed into the Sea of Japan.

{mosads}The launch never posed a threat to North America, the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) said, but Japanese officials were reportedly alarmed that one missile landed in or near that country’s territorial waters. The Wednesday launch is reportedly the first time that the main body of a North Korean missile landed within Japan’s economic exclusion zone, roughly 200 nautical miles from its shoreline.  

The launch is likely to further inflame tensions that have simmered for years.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe decried the launches as “a serious threat to Japan’s security” and an “unforgivable act of violence,” according to The Associated Press.

A North Korean diplomat told ABC News that the launch was a response to the “constant nuclear blackmails of the United States and to strengthen our nuclear deterrent forces in every way.”

The tests were “self defensive actions to cope with the threat from United States,” added the diplomat, Han Son Ryol.

Later this month, the U.S. and South Korea are set to begin major annual military drills, which often evoke backlash from Pyongyang.  

“The men and women of [U.S. Strategic Command], NORAD and U.S. Northern Command, and U.S. Pacific Command remain vigilant in the face of North Korean provocations,” Strategic Command said on Wednesday, “and are fully committed to working closely with our Republic of Korea and Japanese allies to maintain security.”