SEOUL: North Korea fired multiple ballistic missiles off its east coast on Sunday, Seoul's military said. The first launch of the year came just hours before South Korea's leader headed to China for a summit that is expected to feature ties with the North.
Seoul's defence ministry said it had detected "several projectiles, presumed to be ballistic missiles" fired from near the North Korean capital Pyongyang around 7:50 am. The missiles flew approximately 900 kilometres, the military said, adding that South Korea and ally the United States were "closely analysing the specifications" while "maintaining a full readiness posture".
Seoul's Office of National Security convened an emergency meeting following the launch, which a presidency statement said "constitutes a provocative act in violation of United Nations Security Council resolutions". Japan's defence ministry also said it had detected a possible ballistic missile, noting that two projectiles reached an altitude of 50 kilometres and flew distances of 900 and 950 kilometres respectively. "North Korea's nuclear and missile development threatens the peace and stability of our country and the international society, and is absolutely intolerable," Japan's Defence Minister Shinjiro Koizumi told reporters.
In a statement shared by Pyongyang's state media on Sunday, the North Korean foreign ministry condemned the US attack on Venezuela as a "serious encroachment of sovereignty". "The incident is another example that clearly confirms once again the rogue and brutal nature of the US," it said. — AFP
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