North Korea test fires four more missiles

North Korea has fired four ballistic missiles, with at least three landing in Japan-controlled waters, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has told his parliament.

The “projectile” was launched early Monday morning at 7:36 am local time from the Dongchang-ri long-range missile site, Yonhap news reports, citing S. Korea’s military.

Leader Kim Jong-Un is pushing for a nuclear and missile programme that can deter what he calls US and South Korean hostility towards the North. It is believed that the missile launch could be Pyongyang’s another way of showing its anger towards US.

U.S. Strategic Command noted that its “systems detected and tracked what we assess was a North Korean missile launch”, confirming just one of what South Korea and Japan have said was a four-missile salvo launch. USA national security adviser H.R. McMaster and senior South Korean presidential official Kim Kwan-jin held a phone conversation after the missile firings.

The talks were held between US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida and South Korean Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se.

Japan has been on the alert recently over North Korea’s advances in developing nuclear and ballistic missile technology. “It will take a while before we can come up with a final analysis [based on USA satellite data]”, the JCS said, according to South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency.

The missiles had been launched near-simultaneously, and North Korea had given no prior notice, chief cabinet secretary Yoshihide Suga told reporters, calling the launch “a very risky deed”.

China, North Korea’s sole major ally and main trade partner, has come under pressure to do more to rein in Pyongyang. It added that it was “closely monitoring the North’s military for further provocations and maintaining military readiness”.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un visited Mangyongdae Revolutionary School and planted trees with its students last week.

South Korea’s acting president, Hwang Kyo-ahn, called for an immediate meeting of the National Security Council’s standing committee, a spokesman said.

The State Department said Pyongyang’s bellicose actions will only help strengthen the already “ironclad” resolve of Washington and its allies against North Korea’s “unlawful conduct”.