North Korea fires two rounds of ballistic missiles: Seoul military

North Korea fired multiple short-range ballistic missiles in two rounds on Wednesday, the South Korean military said, a day after reporting an “unidentified projectile” launched from the Pyongyang area.

The latest launches mark North Korea’s fourth and fifth known ballistic missile tests this year. Analysts said the tests signal Pyongyang’s rejection of Seoul’s recent peace overtures.

Earlier on Monday, Seoul had expressed regret over civilian drone incursions into the North in January, with President Lee Jae Myung calling the operation “irresponsible” and noting the involvement of government officials.

Missile launches

The South Korean military reported that it detected “multiple unidentified ballistic missiles” fired on Wednesday morning from North Korea’s Wonsan area toward the East Sea, also known as the Sea of Japan.

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According to the military, the first round of short-range ballistic missiles was launched at around 8:50am (2350 GMT Tuesday) and flew approximately 240 kilometres (149 miles). The second round, also short-range, was fired at around 2:20pm and travelled over 700 kilometres.

The Japan Coast Guard also reported that an “object suspected to be a ballistic missile” was launched from North Korea and urged ships to “remain vigilant.”

Seoul’s Office of National Security held an emergency meeting at the presidential Blue House, calling on Pyongyang to immediately stop provocations.

Pyongyang’s response

Following Lee’s expression of regret over the drone incursions, Kim Yo Jong, sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, described Seoul’s response as “wise behaviour,” which the North Korean government appreciated “for its own sake.”

However, a senior North Korean official revived Pyongyang’s hostile rhetoric toward Seoul. Jang Kum Chol, first vice-minister of the foreign ministry, described South Korea as “the enemy state most hostile” to North Korea and dismissed media reports portraying Kim Yo Jong’s comments as friendly as “nonsense” and “hope-filled dream reading” by “world-startling fools.”

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Lim Eul-chul, an expert on North Korea at Kyungnam University, said the missile launches were intended to signal that North Korea’s anti-South stance remains firm despite repeated overtures from Seoul.

China’s diplomat to visit North Korea

Later on Wednesday, Pyongyang’s state media announced that China’s top diplomat, Wang Yi, will visit North Korea on a two-day trip starting Thursday. The visit comes ahead of an expected summit between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping next month, sparking speculation about a potential meeting between Trump and Kim Jong Un around the same time.

Trump, who has recently criticised Seoul’s level of support during the Middle East war, has previously boasted of his ties with Kim. “South Korea didn’t help us,” he said earlier this week. “We’ve got 45,000 soldiers in South Korea to protect (them) from Kim Jong Un, who I get along with very well. He said very nice things about me.”

In reality, the United States has around 28,500 troops stationed in South Korea. Trump met Kim three times in his first term, and his October comment that he was “100 per cent” open to meeting Kim again has so far gone unanswered.