North Korea fires short-range missiles in first launch in two months

By Hyonhee Shin

SEOUL (Reuters) -North Korea fired multiple short-range ballistic missiles off its east coast on Thursday, South Korea's military said, the first such launch in more than two months.

The missiles lifted off from Pyongyang at around 7:10 a.m. (2210 GMT Wednesday) and travelled about 360 km (223.7 miles) before plunging into the sea, the Joint Chiefs of Staff said, without specifying how many were fired.

"We strongly condemn North Korea's missile launch which is a clear provocation that seriously threatens peace and stability on the Korean peninsula," it said in a statement.

Japan's defence ministry said at least two ballistic missiles from North Korea flew more than 350 km, to an altitude of about 100 km.

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, who last week visited Seoul to reconfirm ties with South Korea ahead of his upcoming resignation, said Tokyo strongly condemned the launch and lodged a protest against North Korea.

"We continue to make utmost efforts for monitoring and cooperate with the U.S. and South Korea," Kishida said.

Nuclear envoys of South Korea, Japan and the United States talked by phone and called the launch a violation of U.N. resolutions, Seoul's foreign ministry said in a statement. They also pledged to respond to any North Korean provocations.

North Korea last fired a missile on July 1, when it claimed to have successfully tested a new tactical ballistic missile capable of carrying a 4.5-ton super-large warhead.

The latest launch came days after North Korean leader Kim Jong Un pledged to produce "exponentially" more nuclear weapons and ensure they were ready for use "at any given time."

Kim late last month oversaw a test of an upgraded 240 mm rocket launcher system which "proved its superiority in mobility and strike concentration". He also inspected new "suicide drones" and called for the development of artificial intelligence for unmanned vehicles.

North Korea has also been sending balloons carrying trash across the border into the south over the last few days, a campaign kicked off in May in retaliation for anti-Pyongyang leaflets flown into the country using inflatables by South Korean activists.

Seoul's Joint Chiefs of Staff said the North floated about 20 balloons late on Wednesday but none of them had been detected in the South so far.

Thursday's launch might be aimed at responding to recent South Korea-U.S. military drills or testing the missiles for export to Russia, a military spokesperson told a briefing.

North Korea faces accusations of supplying Russia with weapons including drones and ballistic missiles to be used in the war in Ukraine.

Ukraine and the United States, among other countries and independent analysts, say that Kim is helping Russia in the war by supplying rockets and missiles in return for economic and other military assistance from Moscow.

Moscow and Pyongyang have denied the accusations, but pledged to boost military cooperation and signed a comprehensive strategic partnership at a summit in June.

(Reporting by Hyonhee Shin and Josh Smith in Seoul and Chang-Ran Kim, Kantaro Komiya and Kaori Kaneko in Tokyo; Editing by Edward Davies and Stephen Coates)