North Korea launches ballistic missiles ahead of Chinese President Xi’s Seoul visit

10 years ago | Posted in: Latest Politics News | 639 Views

NORTH Korea fired two ballistic missiles into the sea, Seoul’s military said, the latest in a series of launches staged in an apparent show of force ahead of a visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping to the South. The North fired the missiles into the East Sea (Sea of Japan) from the country’s east coast Sunday morning, a defence ministry official told AFP.

“Both landed in international waters beyond its sea border,” the official said. He did not elaborate on the type of the missile. But Yonhap news agency, citing a military official, said they were short-range Scud missiles with a range of about 500 kilometres (300 miles). In Tokyo, Japanese Defence Minister Itsunori Onodera also told reporters that North Korea had launched a number of ballistic missiles.
He added that the Japanese government had lodged a protest with Pyongyang through its embassy in Beijing.

North Korean troops take aim at targets depicting U.S. soldiers North Korea’s state media broadcasts video of soldiers conducting firing drills at targets depicting U.S. soldiers on 64th anniversary of Korean War. Rough Cut (no reporter narration).The launch came three days after Pyongyang fired what were believed to be three short-range missiles into the sea on Thursday.

The North did not officially confirm Thursday’s launch, revealed by Seoul’s military. But a day later, the state-run Korean Central News Agency hailed what it called the successful test of “cutting-edge” and high-precision missiles, watched by leader Kim Jong-Un.

‘Warning message’ from North

The launches come only days ahead of Xi’s state visit to Seoul to discuss issues including the North’s disputed nuclear weapons programs.The July 3-4 trip — Xi’s first presidential journey to the Korean peninsula — also marks the first time in almost two decades for a sitting Chinese leader to visit the South before having been to the North… see more

source: news.com.au

Tags: , ,

Share it.

Leave a Reply

Related Posts