OREANDA-NEWS. The government of Japan protested the DPRK in connection with the conduct of long-range artillery exercises on March 9. This was announced on Tuesday at a press conference in Tokyo by the head of the Japanese Foreign Ministry Toshimitsu Motegi.

According to him, "the protest was expressed through the Japanese Embassy in Beijing", because such actions by the North Korean side violate UN Security Council resolutions. As noted, in turn, the Japanese Minister of Defense Taro Kono, the DPRK on Monday could test at least two short-range ballistic missiles.

The TsTAK agency previously informed that the chairman of the DPRK State Council, Kim Jong-un, led the long-range artillery exercises on March 9. According to the South Korean Committee of Chiefs of Staff, the DPRK launched three short-range shells from the region of Sondok in the province of Hamgyon-Pukto.

They flew 200 km and reached a maximum height of 50 km. These are the second such artillery exercises of the DPRK since the beginning of 2020. Last December, Kim Jong-un announced that his country would soon demonstrate new strategic weapons.