North Korea launches two short-range missiles, South Korean military says, highlighting anger over military drills

North Korea recently issued a warning over US-South Korea military drills, which have been held for years but were scaled down to ease tensions

At their first summit in Singapore in June 2018 Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un adopted a vaguely worded statement on ‘complete denuclearisation’

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Kim Jong-un speaking to officials after making a round of the newly laid down submarine at an undisclosed location in North Korea. Photo: EPA-EFE/KCNA

Published: 6:35am, 25 Jul 2019Updated: 10:44pm, 25 Jul 2019

North Korea test-fired two new short-range ballistic missiles on Thursday, South Korean officials said, its first missile test since its leader, Kim Jong-un, and US President Donald Trump agreed to revive denuclearisation talks last month.

The missiles were launched from the east coast city of Wonsan with one flying about 430km and the other 690km over the sea. They both reached an altitude of 50km, an official at South Korea’s Defence Ministry said.

Seoul, which supports efforts by Pyongyang and Washington to end years of hostility, urged the North to stop acts that are unhelpful to easing tension, saying the tests posed a military threat on the Korean peninsula.

The South’s National Security Council said it believed the missiles were a new type of ballistic missile but it would make a final assessment with the United States.

Firing a ballistic missile would be a violation of UN Security Council resolutions that ban the North from the use of such technology. Pyongyang has rejected the restriction as an infringement of its sovereign right to self-defence.