SEOUL: North Korea fired what appeared to be multiple short-range ballistic missiles on Thursday (May 8), South Korea’s military said, around a week after leader Kim Jong Un tested a new weapons system for his latest warship.
Seoul’s military said it had “detected several projectiles presumed to be short-range ballistic missiles”, the Joint Chiefs of Staff said.
The missiles were “fired from the Wonsan area of North Korea into the East Sea at around 8.10am today,” they added, referring to the body of water also known as the Sea of Japan.
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 miniaturise its nukes.
The South Korean military has said the destroyer could have been developed with Russian help, possibly in exchange for Pyongyang deploying thousands of troops to help Moscow fight Kyiv.
Russia and North Korea also recently announced that they had started building the first road bridge linking the two neighbours.
North Korea launched a flurry of ballistic missiles last year in violation of United Nations sanctions.
Experts have long warned that the nuclear-armed North may be testing weapons for export to Russia for use against Ukraine.
Japan’s defence ministry said there was no impact on Japan from the North Korean missile, according to public broadcaster NHK.
