North Korea emits short-range missiles before Trump returns

The rockets travelled about 250km after the establishment of around 09:30am from Kanggye to Jagang Province, near the country's border with China, the Joint Chiefs of the Staff Council of Seoul (JCS) said.

“We strongly condemn this concession as a clear provocation that seriously threatens peace and stability on the Korean peninsula,” said JCS, warning North Korea of “the deteriorating” interpretation of the situation, and promising that “would strongly respond to any further provocation.

South Korean incumbent Choi Sang-mok also condemned the release as a violation of UN Security Council resolutions and said Seoul would respond sharply to North Korea's provocations.

Seoul's presidential office said the National Security Council held a meeting to review the situation and promised a firm stand.

The US Indo-Picific Command condemned this test, urging Pjonjang to give up further illegal and destabilising actions.

Japan's Cabinet Secretary Yoshimas Hayashi said he was aware of the missile test and that Tokyo was taking all possible measures to respond through close co-operation with Washington and Seoul, including the real-time sharing of missile warning data.

The launch took place about a week after the launch from North Korea of a medium-range hypersonic ballistic missile, which claimed to be a new missile, which was the first missile test since November 5th.

The latest launch of the missiles also occurred during a visit to Seoul by Japan's Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya.

South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul and Iwaya condemned the development of North Korean weapons and missiles Monday and promised to strengthen security ties after talks in Seoul.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, during his visit to Seoul last week, also called for further strengthening of bilateral co-operation and trilateral co-operation, including Tokyo, to better challenge Pjing's growing military threats.

Tuesday's release occurred days before the inauguration of US President Trump, who developed summits with North Korea's leader, Kim Jong Un, during his first term and praised his personal relationship with him.

South Korean lawmakers, after a briefing by the National Intelligence Service, said Monday that Pjonjang's latest weapons tests were partly intended for “shown his assets to the US and to draw Trump's attention,” following the promise of “against the harshest counteraction US” at a key political meeting late last year. / REL