North Korea fires multiple ballistic missiles, adding to streak of weapons tests

North Korea on Monday fired multiple ballistic missiles toward its eastern waters, South Korea’s military said, adding to a recent streak of weapons demonstrations that has heightened tensions during a prolonged freeze in diplomacy.Jang Do-young, spokesperson of South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, said missiles of various types were fired from an area around the North Korean capital of Pyongyang, where the country’s main airport has been a major launch site in recent years.Jang said one of the missiles flew more than 559 miles before falling into the sea but didn’t comment on the flight details of the other weapons.The joint chiefs didn’t specify how many missiles it detected.Japan’s Defense Ministry said it detected at least two missiles and that the weapons landed in waters outside the country’s exclusive economic zone.

Japan’s prime minister’s office said no damage has been reported.While maintaining a hard line toward Seoul, North Korea has been ramping up weapons testing as it seeks to expand its arsenal of nuclear-capable systems, including an Oct.3 test of what the North described as a hypersonic intermediate-range missile designed to evade missile defenses in South Korea and Japan.North Korea has also conducted other missile tests and live-fire drills and commissioned a new warship as leader Kim Jong Un continues to flaunt his nuclear weapons program while rejecting US and South Korean offers to resume long-stalled diplomacy.The latest launch came days after South Korea on Friday flight-tested its own domestically developed hypersonic weapon, designed to fly at least five times the speed of sound and evade missile defense systems, which President Lee Jae Myung described as critical in strengthening the South’s conventional defense capabilities.

Without directly addressing the growing threat from North Korea, Lee’s office said the hypersonic weapon, once fully developed, would enhance South Korea’s ability to strike key targets ...