ByTalia Kaplan,Lucas Tomlinson| Fox News
North Korea launched two short-range ballistic missiles on Thursday, the day before former Army Lt. Col. Mark Esper is to head to Asia on his first overseas trip as defense secretary, according to U.S. officials.
A defense official told Fox News the missiles are similar to the projectiles launched twice before in the past week.
The U.S. military is assessing how far and how high the missiles went.
NORTH KOREA FIRED 'MULTIPLE' PROJECTILES OFF EAST COAST, SOUTH KOREA REPORTS
Esper’s first overseas trip as President Trump’s defense chief includes stops in Sydney; Auckland, New Zealand; Tokyo; Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia; and Seoul, where he will meet with “key leaders to reaffirm defense relationships and conduct bilateral and multilateral meetings with senior officials,” according to thePentagon.
Secretary of StateMike Pompeois on a trip to Asia and is to meet with Japanese and South Korean foreign ministers on Friday morning.
On Wednesday, North Korea’s State run news agency described one of this week’s earlier tests as a “new-type large-caliber multiple launch guided rocket system.”
North Korea said its leader Kim Jong Un supervised the first test launch of the new multiple rocket launcher system that could potentially increase the country's ability to strike targets in South Korea and U.S. military bases in that country.
On Thursday, France, Germany and the U.K. denounced North Korea’s latest ballistic missile launches saying the country violated U.N. sanctions and urged North Korea to engage in “meaningful negotiations” with the U.S. to eliminate its nuclear weapons.
In a joint statement sent to reporters after a closed Security Council briefing , France, Germany and the U.K. said international sanctions should remain and be fully enforced until North Korea’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs are dismantled, adding that the country needs to “take concrete steps toward its complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearization.”
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In a joint statement sent to reporters after a closed Security Council briefing France, Germany and the U.K. said international sanctions should remain and be fully enforced until North Korea’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs are dismantled, adding that the county need to “take concrete steps toward its complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearization.”
Fox News’ Nicholas Kalman and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Talia Kaplan is a reporter for FoxNews.com. Follow her on Twitter@taliakaplan