North Korea fires multiple short-range ballistic missiles

SEOUL — North Korea fired a salvo of short-range ballistic missiles early Wednesday, Seoul’s military said, Pyongyang’s second such weapons test in a week. Leader Kim Jong Un’s regime has staged dozens of launches this year, part of a testing spree that experts say could be linked to North Korea’s alleged illicit supplying of weapons to ally Russia for use in Ukraine. Pyongyang has denied any sanctions-busting weapons trade with Russia, but with diplomacy long stalled, it declared South Korea its “principal enemy” this year and recently moved nuclear-capable weapons to border areas.

Seoul’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said it had “detected and (was) analyzing several short-range ballistic missiles launched to the northeast around 06:50 (2150 GMT).” Tokyo also confirmed the launch, with the country’s coastguard saying one missile had splashed down already.