North Korea has fired two short-range ballistic missiles off its east coast, according to South Korea and Japan, ahead of Kim Jong Un’s planned meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Africa Today News, New York reports that details on the type or range of the weapons launched on Wednesday is yet to be disclosed.
South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said it was analysing the data.
Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno told reporters that Japan had lodged a protest against North Korea through diplomatic channels in Beijing.
The two missiles fell in the sea outside Japan’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ), he added.
The launch comes with leader Kim Jong Un in Russia for talks with President Vladimir Putin. It is Kim’s first trip overseas since 2019 when he met Putin in Vladivostok, and he is being accompanied by a delegation including senior military officers and weapons producers amid reports he will discuss selling arms to Moscow.
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“Fascinating: a launch without Kim Jong (Un) in the country. A first,” US-based security analyst Ankit Panda wrote on X, the platform previously known as Twitter.
North Korea has carried out numerous missile tests this year in breach of United Nations’ sanctions that were imposed over its nuclear missiles programme in 2017. There have been more than 100 missile launches since the start of last year.
Pyongyang fired two short-range ballistic missiles at the end of August, in what it said was a simulation of a tactical nuclear strike on South Korea.
Africa Today News, New York recalls that last week, Kim officiated at the launch ceremony for the country’s first ‘tactical nuclear attack‘ submarine, the Hero Kim Kun Ok.
How Kim maintains command and control over his country’s missile and nuclear forces while abroad is unclear, but analysts say recent drills have revealed a system for overseeing nuclear weapons similar to those used in the United States and Russia.
A report in March by the 38 North programme, which tracks North Korea, said state media announcements outlined a process that includes commanders of units and various sub-units, a launch approval system, and “technical and mechanical devices” governing nuclear weapons control.