South Korea's military says North Korea launched around 10 short-range ballistic missiles from near Wonsan on Thursday morning, the first such launches since October 12.
North Korea fired around 10 short-range ballistic missiles toward the sea off its east coast on Thursday morning, South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said, in the country's first ballistic missile launches since October 12.
The missiles were launched at around 12:30 p.m. local time from an area around Wonsan on North Korea's eastern coast, the Joint Chiefs said in a statement. South Korea's military said it was strengthening surveillance and maintaining readiness in case of further launches, while sharing information closely with the United States and Japan.
Japan's Defence Ministry said North Korea had launched an object that could be a ballistic missile and that it fell outside Japan's exclusive economic zone, according to Yonhap News Agency. Japan's Coast Guard said earlier that the launched projectile could be a ballistic missile and had already fallen into the sea.
The two accounts agree that a launch took place on Thursday and that the projectiles came down in the sea, but they describe the weapons differently: Seoul identified them as short-range ballistic missiles, while Tokyo described an object that could be a ballistic missile. No damage or casualties were reported in the accounts carried by Reuters.
The launches come amid heightened tension on the inter-Korean border over a mine blast that wounded South Korean soldiers last month, Reuters reported. Pyongyang has conducted missile tests on more than 10 occasions this year, and the timing of this volley, days before the United States midterm elections, will be watched in Seoul, Tokyo and Washington for any further launches or statements from Pyongyang.