North Korea fires ballistic missiles as Blinken visits Seoul
North Korea fired shortrange ballistic missiles into the sea on Monday for the first time in two months, as US secretary of state Antony Blinken visited Seoul for a conference hosted by President Yoon Suk-yeol on advancing democracy.
South Korea’s military said several short-range missiles flew about 300km after being fired between 7:44am and 8:22am (local time) from Pyongyang, the North’s capital, landing off the east coast.
It condemned the launches as a “clear provocation” and said it was sharing information on them with the United States and Japan.
The US state department also condemned the launches, saying they violated several UN Security Council resolutions as well as posing a threat to the region.
Japan’s defence ministry said three missiles were launched and travelled about 350km, with a maximum altitude of 50km.
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida condemned the launches after his country’s coast guard also reported the firing of what it said appeared to be a ballistic missile and specified that it had already ended its flight.
“North Korea’s series of actions threaten the peace and security of our region and the international community, and are absolutely unacceptable,” Kishida said, calling the launch a violation of UN resolutions.
South Korea’s defence minister, Shin Won-sik, said the North has been testing a new type of short-range missiles in recent weeks, and Seoul and Washington are monitoring whether those weapons were meant to be sent to Russia.
“It is unclear whether the missiles are for frontline reinforcement or exports to Russia,” he told a news conference. “But there is a significant possibility that they were making final performance checks before exporting them to Russia.”
Shin said North Korea has shipped at least 7,000 containers of mostly munitions to Russia since July to support its war against Ukraine. He had put the number at around 6,700 in late February.
The North has received fuel and food supplies in return, which appear to have temporarily eased shortages and other economic difficulties since late last year, Shin added.
North Korea’s military has been conducting exercises using conventional weapons in recent weeks, often personally overseen by the isolated state’s leader, Kim Jong-un.
The show of force by Pyongyang comes just after the militaries of South Korea and the United States finished 10 days of large-scale annual joint military drills last Thursday.