North Korea fires ballistic missiles as Blinken visits Seoul

(Patria) - North Korea fired short-range ballistic missiles into the sea this morning, for the first time in two months, while US Secretary of State Antony Blinken was in Seoul for a conference on advancing democracy led by President Yoon Suk Yeol, Reuters reported.

The South Korean military said several short-range missiles flew about 300 km after being launched between 7:44 AM and 8:22 AM (Monday 10:44 PM to 11:22 PM GMT) from Pyongyang, the capital of North Korea, landing on the east coast, and condemned the launch as a "clear provocation" and said it was sharing information with the United States and Japan.

Japan's Ministry of Defense said three missiles were launched, traveling about 350 km, with a maximum altitude of 50 km.

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida condemned the launch after the coast guard reported the firing of what it said was a ballistic missile, specifying that it had already completed its flight. Japan later said it had detected what appeared to be a second ballistic missile launch by North Korea, and that both had fallen outside its exclusive economic zone.

"North Korea's series of actions threaten the peace and security of our region and the international community and are absolutely unacceptable," Kishida said, calling the launch a violation of UN resolutions.

The North Korean military has been conducting drills using conventional weapons in recent weeks, often personally supervised by the leader of the isolated country, Kim Jong Un. The demonstration of force by Pyongyang comes shortly after the South Korean and US militaries concluded ten days of major annual joint military exercises last Thursday.

Blinken is among high-ranking officials from around the world attending the Summit for Democracy conference. He will meet with his South Korean counterpart, Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul. The summit is an initiative of US President Joe Biden aimed at discussing ways to stop democratic backsliding and the erosion of rights and freedoms worldwide.