North Korea fires ballistic missiles as rival South’s leader visits China

(Reuters)

SEOUL, Jan 4- North Korea launched ballistic missiles on Sunday, the day the leader of rival South Korea starts a state visit to China, Pyongyang’s chief ally, and just hours after the U.S. attacked Venezuela.

The firings of at least two missiles, the country’s first in two months, further heighten global tensions after U.S. President Donald Trump launched the attack that captured President Nicolas Maduro.

South Korea said peace on the Korean peninsula would be on the agenda during President Lee Jae Myung’s visit to Beijing, which will include a summit with his counterpart, Xi Jinping.

The launches from the capital Pyongyang into the sea between the Koreas and Japan represent “a message to China to deter closer ties with South Korea and to counter China’s stance on denuclearisation”, said Lim Eul-chul, a professor at the Institute for Far Eastern Studies in Seoul.