North Korea fires multiple suspected short-range missiles, South Korea says

SEOUL - North Korea fired what appeared to be about 10 short-range ballistic missiles off its east coast, South Korea’s military said on May 30.

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said North Korea had launched a ballistic missile that apparently landed outside Japan’s exclusive economic zone.

The suspected missiles were fired from the Sunan area near its capital Pyongyang at 6.14am on May 30 and flew about 350km before plunging into the sea, South Korea’s military said in a statement.

South Korea is sharing North Korean missile-related information with US and Japanese officials, it added in the statement.

The launch came after North Korea failed on May 27 at its attempt to put a second spy satellite into orbit, when

a newly developed rocket engine exploded in flight.

After the failure, leader Kim Jong Un pledged never to give up space reconnaissance projects.

On May 30, a North Korean Foreign Ministry official condemned UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ statement that the attempted launch of another military satellite using ballistic missile technology was against UN Security Council resolutions.

In another launch watched by its neighbours,

North Korea sent hundreds of balloons

carrying trash and excrement across the heavily fortified border to South Korea on May 29, prompting an angry response from Seoul, which said the act was base and dangerous. REUTERS