North Korea fires multiple ballistic missiles in seventh test this year

Launches near Sinpo mark fourth missile test in April as US and China prepare for summit discussions on Pyongyang.

North Korea fired multiple ballistic missiles towards the sea off its east coast on Sunday morning, according to military officials in South Korea and Japan¹². The missiles were launched near the city of Sinpo at approximately 6:10am local time¹².

The incident marked North Korea's seventh ballistic missile launch this year and its fourth in April¹². Japan's government said the missiles were believed to have fallen near the east coast of the Korean Peninsula, with no incursion into Japan's exclusive economic zone confirmed¹².

South Korea's presidential office held an emergency security meeting following the launches¹². South Korea's military said it had bolstered its surveillance posture and was closely exchanging information with the United States and Japan².

The tests violate UN Security Council resolutions against North Korea's missile programme¹². Pyongyang rejects the UN ban and says it infringes its sovereign right to self-defence¹².

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 said¹.

The launches occurred as China and the US prepare for a summit in mid-May, where President Xi Jinping and President Donald Trump are expected to discuss North Korea¹². North Korea has made "very serious" advances in its ability to produce nuclear weapons, with the probable addition of a new uranium enrichment facility¹².