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North Korea fired multiple ballistic missiles off its east coast on Sunday, Seoul’s military said, a day after a major US military operation against Pyongyang’s socialist ally Venezuela.
The first launch of the year came just hours before South Korea’s leader was to head to China for a summit expected to focus on 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 (2250 GMT Saturday).
The missiles flew approximately 900 kilometres (559 miles), the military said, adding that South Korea and its ally, the United States, were “closely analysing the specifications” while “maintaining a full readiness posture”.
The launch follows the US operation that snatched Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro out of his country — a nightmare scenario for North Korea’s leadership, which has long feared a so-called “decapitation strike” of that kind and accused Washington of seeking to remove it from power.
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”.
Seoul’s Office of National Security convened an emergency meeting following the launch, which a presidential 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 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.
Pyongyang last launched a ballistic missile in November, when it staged a test after US President Donald Trump approved South Korea’s plan to build a nuclear-powered submarine.
Pyongyang has for decades argued it needs its nuclear and missile programmes as a deterrent against alleged regime change efforts by Washington. The United States has repeatedly assured Pyongyang that it has no such plans.
