A modified SM-3 missile was launched by an Aegis cruiser off Hawaii on Wednesday and successfully deployed the new Japanese-designed nose cone, the US Missile Defense Agency said.

The test is part of joint defense research begun in 1999, a year after North Korea stunned the world by firing a missile over Japan into the Pacific.

The two countries are scheduled to begin setting up a separate missile defense system in the fiscal year starting in April.

The successul test "proved we can have strong confidence in the Japan-US joint development of the ballistic missile defense system," said Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe, the Japanese government spokesman.

On Wednesday North Korea carried out two new tests of missiles with a range of five kilometers (three miles), Japan's Nippon Television Network said, quoting officials of the Japanese Defence Agency and other authorities.

But Abe said the type of missiles that Pyongyang reportedly tested would not threaten the security of Japan.

"Even if North Korea launches such land-to-sea missile or short-distance land-to-land missiles, they would not have an immediate impact on the security of our state," he said.

Related Links
-