DEVELOPMENT OF THE STORYDEVELOPMENT OF THE STORY,
President Kim Jong Un is in Russia for talks with President Vladimir Putin about arms sales.
South Korea and Japan say North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles off its east coast while leader Kim Jong Un was out of the country preparing to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
There was initially no information about the type and range of the weapons fired on Wednesday.
South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said they were evaluating the data.
Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno told reporters that Japan had protested against North Korea through diplomatic channels in Beijing.
The two missiles fell into the sea outside Japan’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ), he added.
The start takes place with Head of State Kim Jong Un in Russia for talks with President Vladimir Putin. It is Kim’s first trip abroad since 2019, when he met Putin in Vladivostok, and he will be accompanied by a delegation of senior military officers and weapons producers. He will reportedly talk about selling weapons to Moscow.
“Fascinating: a start without Kim Jong (Un) in the country. A first,” US-based security analyst Ankit Panda wrote on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.
North Korea has conducted numerous missile tests this year, violating United Nations sanctions imposed in 2017 over its nuclear missile program. There have been more than 100 rocket launches since the beginning of last year.
Pyongyang fired two short-range ballistic missiles in late August, reportedly simulating a tactical nuclear attack on South Korea.
Last week, Kim led the launching ceremony for the country’s first “tactical nuclear attack” submarine, the Hero Kim Kun Ok.
How Kim maintains command and control of his country’s missile and nuclear weapons abroad is unclear, but analysts say recent exercises have uncovered a nuclear weapons monitoring system similar to those used in the United States and Russia become.
A report released in March by the 38 North Program, which tracks North Korea, said state media announcements described a process that would include commanders of units and various subunits, a launch authorization system and “technical and mechanical equipment.” Control of nuclear weapons control includes.