North Korea fires two missiles: South Korea

North Korea fired two missiles Wednesday morning from its eastern coast, according to South Korean and U.S. officials. The missile launches did not post a threat to North America, said Commander Dave Benham, spokesman for the U.S. Pacific Command.

Both are believed to be Musudan intermediate-range missiles, fired from the North Korea port city of Wonsan, Benham said. North Korea has made at least four previous attempts this year to test this type of missile.

Both missiles were tracked over the Sea of Japan, also known as the East Sea, "where initial indications are they fell," Benham said.

The first missile launch occurred at 5:58 a.m. local time and the South Korean military presumed that one had been a failure, according to a spokesperson from the country's Joint Chiefs of Staff. About two hours later, North Korea fired the second missile at 8:05 a.m. local time, according to the spokesperson.

The U.S. State Department condemned the recent missile tests in a statement: "We are aware of reports that the DPRK fired two ballistic missiles. We are monitoring and continuing to assess the situation in close coordination with our regional allies and partners."

The United States advised North Korea to stop its ballistic missile tests and said it only strengthened the international community's resolve to press forward with U.N. sanctions.

The United States said it would also defend its allies, South Korea and Japan, and called its commitment to them "ironclad."

"We remain prepared to defend ourselves and our allies from any attack or provocation," according to U.S. State Department spokesperson John Kirby.

Japan's defense minister Gen Nakatani told reporters that the missile launch did not affect the country's security, but he also called for immediate meetings to take all possible measures to protect Japan.
North Korea tests Musudan again.

This year, North Korea has taken much interest in the Musudan, an intermediate-range missile with a strike range of 3,000 to 5,500 kilometers (1,864 to 3,417 miles).

North Korea attempted its fourth Musudan test in May, but it exploded after flying for about two to three seconds, according to U.S. defense officials.

In late April, a twin missile test of Musudan missiles also failed. In mid-April, on the anniversary of North Korea's founder Kim Il Sung's birthday, another reported Musudan missile launch ended in failure. All launches were from the North Korean port city of Wonsan.

The Musudan missile isn't really new, according to John Schilling, an aerospace engineer who regularly contributes to 38 North, a North Korean monitoring project.

"It showed up in North Korea over a decade ago, and it seems to be based on a 1960s-era Soviet design with some local modifications." The Musudan with its intermediate-range capabilities could deliver a nuclear warhead as far as the U.S. base in Guam, he wrote in an opinion piece for CNN.