North Korea fires missiles into sea amid talks on US military role

North Korea fired multiple ballistic missiles towards the sea on Tuesday that were likely short-range projectiles, South Korea and Japan said, as Washington and Seoul hold talks on transforming their defence posture against Pyongyang.



South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said the missiles were launched from an area near the North's capital, Pyongyang, at around 3:50 p.m. local time towards the sea off its east coast. It said the missiles flew about 350 km.



Japan's coast guard separately said it had detected what could be ballistic missiles launched by North Korea that dropped a few minutes later. Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said the missiles would have no impact on Japan.



The missiles reached a maximum altitude of 80 km, according to Japan.



South Korea's Office of National Security urged North Korea to immediately halt ballistic missile launches, condemning them as provocative activities and violations of U.N. Security Council resolutions.



Japan said "repeated launches of ballistic missiles...by North Korea threatens the peace and security of our country, the region and the international community".