North Korea launches multiple ballistic missiles in seventh test this year

Sunday's launch near Sinpo marked the fourth such test in April as analysts suggest Pyongyang exploits US focus on Iran.

North Korea fired multiple ballistic missiles towards the sea off its east coast on Sunday, according to South Korea and Japan, marking the country's seventh ballistic missile launch this year and its fourth in April¹²³.

The missiles were fired near the city of Sinpo on North Korea's east coast at approximately 6:10am local time, South Korea's military said in a statement¹²³. Japan's government posted on social media that the ballistic missiles were believed to have fallen near the east coast of the Korean Peninsula, and no incursion into Japan's exclusive economic zone was confirmed¹²³.

South Korea's presidential office held an emergency security meeting following the launches, media reports said¹²³. South Korea bolstered its surveillance posture and was closely exchanging information with the United States and Japan³.

Lim Eul-chul, a professor at Kyungnam University, said the timing was significant. "As the US is focused on Iran, the North sees this as a golden time to upgrade its nuclear power and missile capability," he said¹².

Such tests violate United Nations Security Council resolutions against North Korea's missile programme¹²³. Pyongyang rejects the UN ban and says it infringes its sovereign right to self-defence¹²³.

The launches come as China and the US prepare for a summit in mid-May where US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping are expected to discuss North Korea¹²³. North Korea has made "very serious" advances in its abilities to turn out nuclear weapons, with the probable addition of a new uranium enrichment facility¹²³.