North Korea Fires Flurry of Short-Range Ballistic Missiles

Seoul’s military said it had “detected the launch of various types of short-range ballistic missiles”.

The missiles were “fired from the Wonsan area of North Korea into the East Sea between approximately 08:10 and 09:20 today (from 2310 GMT Wednesday),” the Joint Chiefs of Staff said, referring to the body of water also known as the Sea of Japan, AFP reported.

The missiles flew up to about 800 kilometers before splashing down in waters to the east of the peninsula, the JCS said, adding it strongly condemned the North for a “clear act of provocation that poses a serious threat to peace and stability”.

“Our military, under the strong South Korea-US combined defense posture, is closely monitoring various North Korean activities to prevent any misjudgment (by the North),” it said in a statement.

The launch, the nuclear-armed North's first missile test since March, came about a week after Kim oversaw the test-firing of a new warship weapons system.

Pyongyang unveiled the 5,000-ton destroyer-class vessel named Choe Hyon last month.

North Korea claims the vessel was equipped with the “most powerful weapons”, and that it would “enter into operation early next year”.

Some analysts have said the ship could be equipped with short-range tactical nuclear missiles -- although North Korea has not proven it has the ability to miniaturize its nukes.

North Korea launched a flurry of ballistic missiles last year in violation of UN sanctions.

Japan's defense ministry said there was no impact on Japan from the North Korean missiles, according to public broadcaster NHK.

Kim earlier this week inspected shell manufacturing at munitions factories, with state media claiming the country's shell output had increased dramatically in recent months.

South Korea's military said in early March that the North fired “multiple unidentified ballistic missiles“, the same day Seoul and Washington began a major annual joint military drill known as Freedom Shield.

Pyongyang also carried out a test-launch of strategic cruise missiles in the Yellow Sea in late February, which it said showed off “counterattack capabilities”.

Washington -- Seoul's key security ally -- has in recent years ramped up joint military exercises and increased the presence of strategic US assets, such as an aircraft carrier and a nuclear-powered submarine, in the region to deter the North.

Pyongyang has repeatedly declared itself an “irreversible” nuclear weapons state and routinely denounces joint US-South Korea drills as rehearsals for invasion.

The two Koreas are technically still at war as the 1950-1953 conflict ended in an armistice rather than a peace treaty.

With relations souring, the North last year blew up roads and railways connecting it to the South and fortified areas of the border with more mines.

In early April, South Korea's military said its troops fired warning shots when around 10 North Korean soldiers briefly crossed the heavily fortified border that divides the peninsula.