North Korea fired 10 ballistic missiles, says Seoul

North Korea fired around 10 ballistic missiles toward the Sea of Japan on Saturday, Seoul’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said.

Seoul’s military detected “around ten unidentified ballistic missiles launched from the Sunan area in North Korea toward the East Sea at around 1:20 p.m. (0420 GMT),” the JCS said in a statement.

Earlier in the day, Seoul had alleged that Pyongyang fired at least one “unidentified projectile” toward the sea on Saturday.

Japan also alleged the launch of a projectile, which it suspected to be a ballistic missile.

In reference to the first launch, South Korea’s military said the projectile was fired towards the eastern coast and Japan said that it appeared that the ‌projectile had fallen into the ‌sea.

Joint military drills irk North Korea

The missile launches came as the US and South Korea hold their annual springtime joint military drills, with thousands of troops taking part.

The ballistic missiles came days after Pyongyang warned of “terrible consequences” over the ongoing annual South Korea-US military drills.

North Korea has repeatedly objected to such joint military exercises, saying they are “dress rehearsals” for armed aggression against it by the ​allies.

The US has for decades tried to neutralize North Korea’s nuclear program but diplomatic pressure has not yielded any results.

Notably, the missile launches came after South Korean Prime Minister Kim Min-seok said that US President Donald Trump thinks a meeting with Pyongyang’s leader Kim Jong Un would be “good.”

However, Pyongyang rejected the overture, describing the latest peace efforts as a “clumsy, deceptive farce.”

Edited by: Alex Berry