North Korea fires two ballistic missiles after allied military drills

North Korea fired two ballistic missiles early on Sunday, said authorities in neighbouring countries.

This, the seventh such launch by Pyongyang in recent days, has added to widespread alarm in Washington and its allies in Tokyo and Seoul.

Officials in the South Korean capital have said the uptick in the North’s missile launches could signal that it is closer than ever to resuming nuclear testing for the first time since 2017, with preparations observed at its test site for months.

Both of Sunday’s missiles reached an altitude of 100km and covered 350km, Japanese state minister of defence Toshiro Ino told reporters. The first was fired at about 1.47am local time and the second about six minutes later.

They fell outside Japan’s exclusive economic zone. Authorities were looking into what type they were, including the possibility that they were submarine-launched ballistic missiles, he said.

The US military said it was consulting closely with allies and partners after  the launches, which it said highlighted the “destabilising impact” of the North Korean nuclear arms and ballistic missile programmes.

Still, the US assessed that the latest launches did not pose a threat to US personnel or American allies.

“The US commitments to the defence of the Republic of Korea and Japan remain ironclad,” the Hawaii-based US Indo-Pacific Command said in a statement.

The latest missile launches from the Muncheon area on North Korea’s east coast are a “serious provocation” that harms peace, South Korean authorities said.

Canadian foreign affairs minister Mélanie Joly visited the Demilitarised Zone on Sunday, the latest in a string of Western leaders to visit the fortified border between the two Koreas in recent weeks, including US Vice-President Kamala Harris and British foreign secretary James Cleverly.

“We strongly condemn North Korea’s reckless missiles launches which threaten peace, security and stability in the region,” Joly said in a statement.

Ottawa announced in September that a Canadian frigate and reconnaissance aircraft would be deployed to help enforce UN sanctions on North Korea.

On Tuesday, North Korea test-fired a ballistic missile farther than before, sending it soaring over Japan for the first time in five years and prompting a warning to residents there to take cover.

Ino said Tokyo would not tolerate Korea’s repeated actions. The incident was the seventh such launch since September 25.

Japan’s foreign ministry said the nuclear envoys of the US, South Korea and Japan held a telephone call and shared the view that the North's ballistic missile launches threatened the peace and security of the region and the international community, besides posing a civil aviation risk.

North Korea, which has pursued missile and nuclear tests in defiance of UN sanctions, said on Saturday its missile tests were for self-defence against direct US military threats and had not harmed the safety of neighbours.

"Our missile tests are a normal, planned self-defence measure to protect our country's security and regional peace from direct US military threats," said state media KCNA, citing an aviation administration spokesperson.

South Korea and the US held joint maritime exercises on Friday, a day after Seoul scrambled fighter jets in reaction to an apparent North Korean bombing drill.

The US also announced new sanctions on Friday in response to North Korea's latest missile launches.

North Korea’s neighbour and ally China pointed to joint military exercises held by the US and its allies around the Korean peninsula when asked about Sunday’s launches.

“The US’s words should match its actions, its stance that it does not bear ill will towards North Korea should translate into actions, it should create the conditions for the resumption of meaningful dialogue,” foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning told reporters.

Reuters