Seoul (AFP) โ North Korea fired multiple short-range ballistic missiles on Wednesday, South Korea's military said, hours after reporting an "unidentified projectile" launched from the North's capital area the previous day.
South Korean President Lee Jae Myung has sought to repair ties with North Korea since taking office last year, criticising his predecessor for allegedly sending drones to scatter propaganda over Pyongyang.
The launches follow Seoul's expression of regret on Monday over civilian drone incursions into the North in January, with President Lee calling it "irresponsible" and noting that government officials had been involved in the operation.
They are seen as North Korea's latest rebuff of South Korea's peace overtures, according to analysts.
Seoul's military said early Wednesday it had detected "an unidentified projectile" launched from the Pyongyang area a day earlier.
About an hour later, the military said it also detected "multiple unidentified ballistic missiles" fired from North Korea's Wonsan area toward the East Sea on Wednesday morning, referring to the body of water also known as the Sea of Japan.
Later the South Korean military clarified they were short-range ballistic missiles, fired at around 8:50 am (23:50 GMT) and flew around 240 kilometres (149 miles).
The launch marked North Korea's fourth known ballistic missile test this year, including a salvo of around 10 fired from the Sunan area in March.
The Office of National Security at the presidential Blue House held an emergency meeting over the launch, asking Pyongyang to immediately stop provocations.
"Given the ongoing war in the Middle East, (the office) instructed relevant agencies to exercise even greater vigilance in maintaining a state of readiness," it said in a statement.
The office also "urged North Korea to immediately cease its ballistic missile launch, deeming it a provocative act that violates UN Security Council resolutions", it added.
Following president Lee's expression of regret over the drones on Monday, the powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said Lee's regret was "wise behaviour".
"Our government appreciated it as very fortunate and wise behaviour for its own sake," Kim Yo Jong said on Monday.
In other news, water is wet.
I have a feeling though, that NK will end up that one npc nation you ignore in a Civ game, that steamrolls you after a hundred turns of doing nothing productive.