North Korea fires short-range ballistic missiles for second time in a week

The missiles flew for about 400km (249 miles) before falling into the sea with no reports of damage.

North Korea has fired multiple short-range ballistic missiles towards its east coast, South Korea and Japan said, in the second such test in a week.

The missiles were launched from Kaechon, north of the capital Pyongyang, at about 6.50am on Wednesday (21:50 GMT on Tuesday) and flew about 400km (249 miles)  towards the northeast, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said, without specifying how many were fired or where they landed.

“North Korea’s missile launch is a clear act of provocation that seriously threatens peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula, and we strongly condemn it,” the JCS said in a statement.

Japan also confirmed the launch with the coastguard saying North Korea fired at least two ballistic missiles.

The test comes days after North Korea’s foreign minister met top Russian security official Sergei Shoigu in Moscow.

The two heavily-sanctioned countries have deepened ties in recent months with analysts saying the latest tests could be linked with North Korea’s alleged illicit supply of weapons to Russia for use in Ukraine. Pyongyang has denied sending weapons to Moscow.

“Considering the resurgence of the war in Ukraine and Shoigu’s recent visit to North Korea, the latest missile launches could be for exports to Russia,” Yang Moo-jin, president of the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul, told the AFP news agency.

Pyongyang fired multiple short-range ballistic missiles last Thursday, the first such launch in more than two months, which it later said was a test of a new 600mm multiple-launch rocket system.

It was the country’s first major test since early July.

The United States, South Korea and Ukraine, among other countries, have accused Pyongyang of supplying rockets and missiles to Moscow in return for economic and other military assistance.

A report released last week by Conflict Armament Research used debris analysis to show “that missiles produced this year in North Korea are being used” on the battlefield against Kyiv.

United Nations sanctions monitors said earlier this year that fragments from a North Korean Hwasong-11 missile had been found after a Russian attack in Kharkiv in January.

Wednesday’s missile launches also came days after the isolated country released the first-ever images of its uranium enrichment facility.

North Korea conducted its first nuclear test in 2006 and has been under UN sanctions since.

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Al Jazeera and news agencies