As of: March 18, 2024, 4:06 a.m
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Tensions on the Korean peninsula have increased.
© Ahn Young-joon/AP/dpa
North Korea has recently mainly tested cruise missiles.
Now the country ruled by Kim Jong Un is continuing its missile tests again.
Seoul - North Korea has fired several missiles one after the other towards the open sea, according to the South Korean military.
The general staff in Seoul said the rockets flew around 300 kilometers after launching in the region around the capital Pyongyang.
They sank into the sea between the Korean peninsula and Japan.
These are probably short-range ballistic missiles.
Further data is still being evaluated.
Japan detected three missiles, the Japanese news agency Kyodo reported, citing the Defense Ministry in Tokyo.
South Korea's highest command accused the neighboring country of renewed provocation.
North Korea is prohibited by UN resolutions from launching or even testing ballistic missiles, which, depending on their design, can be equipped with a nuclear warhead.
The largely isolated country's renewed missile tests came a day after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in South Korea.
There he wanted to take part in the third “Summit for Democracy” this Monday, which was launched by US President Joe Biden in 2021.
Blinken was also scheduled to have one-on-one talks with his South Korean colleague Cho Tae Yul, which would also focus on the situation on the Korean peninsula.
USA and South Korea have expanded military cooperation
Tensions on the peninsula have increased significantly again.
Since the beginning of 2022, North Korea had significantly increased the scale of its weapons tests with nuclear-capable rockets and guided missiles and increased rhetoric against the USA and South Korea, which Pyongyang sees as enemy states.
Washington and Seoul have expanded their military cooperation, including joint exercises.
Last week both countries concluded their annual spring exercises.
According to South Korea, the eleven-day exercises were also intended to deter nuclear threats from North Korea.
The United States and its allies South Korea and Japan are directly threatened by the country's nuclear weapons and missile programs.
dpa