North Korea fires two rounds of ballistic missiles: Seoul military

North Korea fired multiple short-range ballistic missiles in two rounds on Wednesday, South Korea’s military said, after reporting an “unidentified projectile” was launched from the Pyongyang area the previous day.

South Korean President Lee Jae Myung has sought to repair ties with the North since taking office last year, criticising his predecessor for allegedly sending drones to scatter propaganda over Pyongyang.

On Monday Seoul expressed regret 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.

The launches — the North’s fourth and fifth known ballistic missile tests this year — are seen as North Korea’s latest rebuff of Seoul’s peace overtures, according to analysts.

The South Korean military said early Wednesday it had detected “an unidentified projectile” launched from the area of the North’s capital a day earlier.

About an hour later, the military said it also detected “multiple unidentified ballistic missiles” fired on Wednesday morning from North Korea’s Wonsan area toward the East Sea, the body of water also known as the Sea of Japan.

In separate statements, the military said they were short-range ballistic missiles that were fired at around 8:50 am (23:50 GMT) and flew around 240 kilometres (149 miles). At least one additional missile was launched at around 2:20 pm (05:20 GMT).

“Our military has strengthened surveillance and vigilance in preparation for further launches, while maintaining a state of full readiness,” the South Korean military said.

The Japan coast guard also said an “object suspected to be a ballistic missile has been launched from North Korea”, urging ships to “remain vigilant”.

Seoul’s office of national security at the presidential Blue House held an emergency meeting, asking Pyongyang to immediately stop provocations.

Citing the war in the Middle East, the office said in a statement it had “instructed relevant agencies to exercise even greater vigilance in maintaining a state of readiness”.

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.

Meanwhile, US forces for the Indo-Pacific said in a statement, “This event does not pose an immediate threat to US personnel or territory, or to our allies,” adding the US was consulting closely with its allies in the region.

‘Fools’

After President Lee’s expression of regret over the drones on Monday, the powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un called it “wise behaviour”.

“Our government appreciated it as very fortunate and wise behaviour for its own sake,” Kim Yo Jong said on Monday.

But on Tuesday, a senior North Korean foreign ministry official described the South as “the enemy state most hostile” to Pyongyang, reviving a label previously used by Kim Jong Un.

Jang Kum Chol, first vice-minister of Pyongyang’s foreign ministry, said South Korean media reports that described Kim Yo Jong’s comments as an “exceptional friendly response” were “nonsense”.

“This will also be recorded as world-startling fools,” he said in a statement carried by Pyongyang’s official Korean Central News Agency.

The launches were 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.

“South Korea didn’t help us” during the Middle East war, 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 said.

Trump met Kim three times in his first term, and there has been speculation of a re-run when the US president makes a delayed visit to China next month.

But Trump’s comment in October that he was “100 per cent” open to meeting Kim again have gone unanswered.