Japanese Defense Minister Warns About New Missile Launches By North Korea - Reports

Japanese Defense Minister Takeshi Iwaya stressed the need to strengthen surveillance efforts due to the possibility that North Korea could fire more missiles following its previous launches in recent weeks, local media reported on Thursday

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 15th August, 2019) Japanese Defense Minister Takeshi Iwaya stressed the need to strengthen surveillance efforts due to the possibility that North Korea could fire more missiles following its previous launches in recent weeks, local media reported on Thursday.

The minister stated that the launches were made to protest the ongoing US-South Korea military exercises, which will end next week, according to the NHK broadcaster.

Iwaya also said that he expected a joint intelligence-sharing agreement between Tokyo and Seoul, known as GSOMIA and signed back in 2016, to be extended.

Since late July, Pyongyang has carried out a number of tests of what appear to be short-range ballistic missiles. US President Donald Trump played down the tests, saying that these missiles only reach short distances and are "very standard," and that "a lot of other countries test that kind of missile also."