PBS News:

North Korea launched two ballistic missiles toward its eastern waters on Thursday, as the United States redeployed one of its aircraft carriers near the Korean Peninsula in response to Pyongyang’s previous launch of a powerful nuclear-capable missile over Japan.

South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement the launches were made 22 minutes apart from the North’s capital region. It said South Korea has boosted its surveillance posture and maintains a readiness in close coordination with the United States.

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida also confirmed the North Korean missile launches, saying the weapons firings are “absolutely intolerable.”

The latest missile launches suggest North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is determined to continue with weapons tests aimed at boosting his nuclear arsenal in defiance of international sanctions. Many experts say Kim’s goal is to eventually win U.S. recognition as a legitimate nuclear state and the lifting of those sanctions, though the international community has shown no sign of allowing that to happen.

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