North Korea fires ballistic missiles as Pyongyang dismisses Seoul’s diplomacy hopes

(Reuters)

SEOUL, April 8 – North Korea fired several ballistic missiles toward the sea off its east coast on Wednesday, South Korea’s military said, ‌following a separate launch detected a day earlier as Pyongyang doused Seoul’s hopes of an easing in tensions.

South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said the unidentified missiles were launched at around 8:50 a.m. (2350 GMT Tuesday) from near Wonsan on the North’s east coast.

The missiles flew 240 km (149 miles), the JCS said, adding that South Korean ​and U.S. authorities were conducting a detailed analysis of the launch. South Korea’s military also said it had detected the launch of ​a suspected ballistic missile from near Pyongyang on Tuesday.

South Korea’s presidential Blue House convened an emergency National Security ⁠Council meeting on Wednesday, calling the launches a provocation that violated U.N. Security Council resolutions, according to the local media reports. It urged Pyongyang to ​end such tests.

According to South Korea’s Yonhap news agency, citing military officials, the projectile launched on Tuesday flew eastward before showing signs of ​an abnormality in the early stage of flight and disappearing.

The JCS also thought it was likely to be a ballistic missile, in what could amount to a failure after launch, Yonhap reported.

South Korea typically announces North Korean ballistic missile launches promptly, as such tests violate U.N. Security Council resolutions against the North’s ballistic ​missile programme.

North Korea rejects the U.N. ban and says it infringes its sovereign right to self-defence.