North Korea ‘fires short-range missiles’ off east coast
North Korea has fired several unidentified missiles off of its eastern coast, according to South Korean military.
The short-range missiles were fired from Wonsan at around 9am local time on Saturday and reached around 125 miles before landing in the ocean.
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North Korea "fired a number of short-range missiles from its Hodo peninsula near the east coast town of Wonsan to the north-eastern direction from 09:06 (00:06 GMT) to 09:27," said South Korean military.
It is not currently known whether they were banned ballistic missiles, but the South are monitoring the situation and have increased their surveillance of the North, while the US will also help to analyse the available details.
If it is confirmed that a banned ballistic missile was fired, it would be the first time since 2017 that North Korea has broken international law regarding such practices.
In November 2017, the country tested an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM).
Japan's defence ministry has not deemed the latest move a security threat and insisted that the missiles did not land close to their coastline, despite landing in the Sea of Japan.
The White House released a statement saying that the US was "aware of North Korea's actions" and "would continue to monitor as necessary."
The US had attempted to neutralise the threat from North Korea with talks, but a summit between leaders Kim Jong Un and Donald Trump broke down earlier this year as they could not come to an agreement on denuclearising the Asian state.
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North Korea wants all sanctions against the country dropped in exchange for disarmament but the US is unwilling to be so lenient.
Currently, there are no further summits scheduled between the two.
The latest launch of missiles is indicative of a lack of progress between parties and Pyongyang's frustration, following on from their recent demands that Mike Pompeo, the US secretary of state, be removed from nuclear discussions.