SEOUL, South Korea (AP) 鈥� launched multiple short-range toward the sea on Sunday, its neighbors said, days after the U.N.鈥檚 nuclear watchdog warned that North Korea was making 鈥渧ery serious鈥� advances in efforts to build nuclear weapons.
The missiles fired from the North’s Sinpo area flew about 140 kilometers (87 miles) each in a direction toward the country’s eastern waters, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said. It said South Korea maintains a readiness to repel any provocations by North Korea and is closely exchanging information with the U.S. and Japan.
In an emergency meeting of the National Security Council, senior South Korean officials expressed concerns about North Korea鈥檚 repeated ballistic missile tests and urged it to stop them immediately. Sunday’s launches came hours before South Korean President Lee Jae Myung left the country to visit India and Vietnam.
The U.S. and Japanese militaries also said they detected the launches. The said it remains committed to the defense of the U.S. homeland and its allies in the region. Japan’s Defense Ministry said Tokyo strongly protested to Pyongyang, saying the launches threaten regional and international peace and violated U.N. Security Council resolutions that bans any ballistic activities by North Korea.
Sinpo, the launch site, is an eastern coastal city in North Korea where it has a major shipyard use for building
South Korea鈥檚 military was analyzing whether the latest launches were made from a submarine, a land-based launcher or both platforms, according to South Korean media. Asked about where the missiles were launched, Japan’s Deputy Minister of Defense Masahisa Miyazaki told reporters that Japan was analyzing launch details in coordination with the U.S. and South Korea.
If the launches involved it would mark North Korea鈥檚 first submarine-launched ballistic missile test in four years.
North Korea obtaining a greater ability to fire missiles from underwater would be a worrying development because it鈥檚 difficult for its rivals to detect such launches in advance. Last year, North Korea unveiled under construction for the first time.
Sunday’s launches were the latest in North Korea’s run of weapons tests this year.
Last week, North Korea said from the country鈥檚 destroyer. In the previous week, North Korea said it had three days of testing activities to examine ballistic missiles armed with and other new weapons systems. Last month, it said it tested an for missiles capable of reaching the U.S. mainland.
Kim has focused on enlarging his nuclear and missile arsenals since his high-stakes with U.S. President Donald Trump collapsed in 2019. Trump has repeatedly expressed his desire to restore diplomacy with Kim, and the North Korean leader has recently left open the but urged Washington to drop demands for the North鈥檚 nuclear disarmament as a precondition for talks.
Trump is to travels to Beijing for a with Xi Jinping in May. Some observers North Korea’s recent testing activities were likely meant to increase its leverage in future dealings with the U.S., as the Trump-Xi meeting could provide a diplomatic opening with Pyongyang.
On Wednesday, International Atomic Energy Agency Director General said that his agency has confirmed 鈥渁 rapid increase鈥� in activities at nuclear manufacturing facilities in North Korea. Grossi told reporters in Seoul that activities in North Korea point to 鈥渁 very serious increase鈥� in its nuclear weapons production capabilities.
His comments echoed a view by many outside observers that North Korea has taken steps to expand its main Yongbyon nuclear complex and build additional in recent years. Last September, South Korea鈥檚 Unification Minister Chung Dong-young said that North Korea was operating and that they were running everyday.
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Yamaguchi reported from Tokyo.
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