North Korea fired multiple ballistic missiles toward its eastern waters on Monday, South Korea’s military said, extending a recent run of weapons tests that has deepened tensions amid a long freeze in diplomacy between the two countries.
Jang Do-young, spokesperson for South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the missiles were launched from an area near Pyongyang, where the North’s main airport has frequently served as a launch site in recent years. South Korea’s military did not say how many missiles were detected, though Jang said one flew more than 559 miles before landing in the sea. He did not detail the flight paths of the other weapons.
Japan’s Defense Ministry said it tracked at least two missiles, which came down in waters outside Japan’s exclusive economic zone. The Japanese prime minister’s office said no damage has been reported.
Part of a broader pattern
North Korea has been stepping up missile and weapons testing in recent months as it works to expand its arsenal of nuclear-capable systems, even as leader Kim Jong Un maintains a hard line toward Seoul. On Oct. 3, the North tested what it described as a hypersonic intermediate-range missile built to get past missile defenses in South Korea and Japan. The regime has also carried out other missile launches, live-fire drills, and commissioned a new warship, all while Kim has rejected offers from Washington and Seoul to restart stalled diplomatic talks.
Monday’s launches came just days after South Korea flight-tested its own domestically built hypersonic weapon on Friday. That weapon is designed to travel at least five times the speed of sound and evade missile defenses. President Lee Jae Myung called the test critical to strengthening South Korea’s conventional defense capabilities. Lee’s office said that once fully developed, the weapon would improve South Korea’s ability to strike key targets by surprise within the
