North Korea fires missiles on eve of Harris trip to DMZ

SEOUL (Reuters) – North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles off its east coast on Wednesday, South Korea’s military said, a day before US Vice President Kamala Harris is set to arrive in Seoul.

The launch came two days after South Korea and US forces conducted a military drill in waters off the South’s east coast involving an aircraft carrier. On Sunday, North Korea fired another ballistic missile towards the sea off its east coast.

Wednesday’s missiles were launched from the Sunan area of Pyongyang, the North Korean capital, between 6:10 and 6:20 p.m., South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said.

They flew about 360 km., reaching an altitude of 30 km. and a maximum velocity of Mach 6 (4,600 mph), they said, adding that a detailed analysis was underway.

“North Korea’s provocations will further strengthen the South Korean-US deterrence and response capability, and only deepen North Korea’s isolation from the international community,” the Joint Chiefs said in a statement.

South Korea’s national security council held an emergency meeting and condemned the test, vowing to continue building “overwhelming” capacity to deter North Korea, President

Yoon Suk-yeol’s office said in a separate statement.

North Korean state media did not mention the reports of the latest launches, but its leader Kim Jong Un has said its development of nuclear weapons and missiles are meant to defend North Korea against US threats.

Japan’s coast guard also reported a suspected ballistic missile test, which its Minister of State for Defense, Toshiro Ino, condemned as “unacceptable.”

He told reporters: “North Korea’s series of actions, including repeated ballistic missile launches, poses a threat to the peace and security of Japan, the region and international society.”

Following a stop in Japan, Harris will land in the South Korean capital and visit the heavily fortified Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) between the neighbors on Thursday.

In a speech hours earlier aboard the destroyer USS Howard in the Japanese city of Yokosuka, Harris called Sunday’s missile launch part of an “illicit weapons program which threatens regional stability and violates multiple UN Security Council resolutions.”

A US State Department spokesperson also condemned the latest test as a regional threat, but said Washington remained committed to a diplomatic approach and urged Pyongyang to engage in dialogue.