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North Korea fires multiple ballistic missiles in two rounds: Seoul military / Photo: Jung Yeon-je - AFP
North Korea fires multiple ballistic missiles in two rounds: Seoul military
North Korea fired multiple short-range ballistic missiles in two rounds on Wednesday, South Korea's military said, hours after reporting an "unidentified projectile" launched from the North's capital area the previous day.
South Korean President Lee Jae Myung has sought to repair ties with North Korea since taking office last year, criticising his predecessor for allegedly sending drones to scatter propaganda over Pyongyang.
The launches follow Seoul's expression of regret on Monday over civilian drone incursions into the North in January, with President Lee calling it "irresponsible" and noting that government officials had been involved in the operation.
They are seen as North Korea's latest rebuff of South Korea's peace overtures, according to analysts.
Seoul's military said early Wednesday it had detected "an unidentified projectile" launched from the Pyongyang area a day earlier.
About an hour later, the military said it also detected "multiple unidentified ballistic missiles" fired from North Korea's Wonsan area toward the East Sea on Wednesday morning, referring to the body of water also known as the Sea of Japan.
Later the South Korean military clarified they were short-range ballistic missiles, fired at around 8:50 am (23:50 GMT) and flew around 240 kilometres (149 miles).
Hours later, they announced North Korea fired at least one other ballistic missile towards the East Sea, without giving details.
Shortly afterwards, the Japan Coast Guard also said an "object suspected to be a ballistic missile has been launched from North Korea."
"Ships are advised to remain vigilant for further updates and, should they spot any falling debris, to keep their distance and report any relevant information to the Japan Coast Guard," it added.
The Wednesday launches marked North Korea's fourth and fifth known ballistic missile tests this year, including a salvo of around 10 fired from the Sunan area in March.
The Office of National Security at the presidential Blue House held an emergency meeting over the launch, asking Pyongyang to immediately stop provocations.
"Given the ongoing war in the Middle East, (the office) instructed relevant agencies to exercise even greater vigilance in maintaining a state of readiness," it said in a statement.
The office also "urged North Korea to immediately cease its ballistic missile launch, deeming it a provocative act that violates UN Security Council resolutions", it added.
Following president Lee's expression of regret over the drones on Monday, the powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said Lee's regret was "wise behaviour".
"Our government appreciated it as very fortunate and wise behaviour for its own sake," Kim Yo Jong said on Monday.
-'World-startling fools'-
But on Tuesday, a senior North Korean foreign ministry official described the South as "the enemy state most hostile" to North Korea, reiterating a label previously used by Kim Jong Un.
Referring to South Korean media reports that cast a positive light on Kim Yo Jong's comments about Lee, the official said such a stance was "nonsense".
"Regarding the rapid response from our government as an 'exceptional friendly response'... this will also be recorded as 'world-startling fools', Jang Kum Chol, first vice-minister of Pyongyang's foreign ministry, said in a statement carried by Pyongyang's official Korean Central News Agency.
The launches are Pyongyang's message to Seoul that its anti‑South stance remains firm despite Seoul's repeated overtures, said Lim Eul‑chul, an expert on North Korea at Kyungnam University.
"The consecutive firings and recent statements underscore the North's determination to ignore attempts by the South at improving inter‑Korean ties," he said.
US President Donald Trump, who has repeatedly criticised Seoul's level of support for his war in Iran, has recently boasted of his ties with North Korea's leader Kim.
"You know who else didn't help us? South Korea didn't help us," Trump said earlier this week.
"We've got 45,000 soldiers in South Korea to protect (them) from Kim Jong Un, who I get along with very well. He said very nice things about me. He used to call Joe Biden a mentally retarded person."
The United States has around 28,500 troops in South Korea.
Trump met Kim three times in his first term, and there has been speculation of a re-run when the US president makes his delayed upcoming visit to China.
Perhaps emboldened by Pyongyang's new closeness to Russia, Trump's comment in October that he was "100 percent" open to meeting Kim again went unanswered.
M.Johnston--SMC
