SEOUL (AP) – North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles toward its eastern seas yesterday, its neighbours said.
The launch came as North Korean leader Kim Jong-un was travelling in Russia for a meeting with President Vladimir Putin. South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said it detected the missiles being fired 10 minutes apart from an area in Sunan, the site of Pyongyang’s international airport, and that the weapons flew cross-country toward the country’s eastern seas.
It didn’t immediately say how far the weapons flew. Japan’s Coast Guard, citing Tokyo’s Defence Ministry, said the missile likely has landed but still urged vessels around the Japanese coasts to watch out for falling objects.
Kim has been ramping up the North’s weapons development, a process that has included more than 100 missile launches since the start of 2022.
According to United States officials, Putin could use the meeting to secure more North Korean artillery and other ammunition.
Experts said Kim in return could seek badly needed economic aid and sophisticated weapons technologies to advance his nuclear-weapons and missiles programme.
