Symbolic imageNorth Korea fires about ten ballistic missiles as border dispute deepens
North Korea fired about ten short-range ballistic missiles toward the Sea of Japan on Thursday, less than a week after Seoul proposed military talks.
South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said the missiles were fired around 12:30 local time from the Wonsan area on the east coast. According to Handelsblatt they flew about 250 kilometres; the previous ballistic launch was on 12 October. Japan's Defence Ministry separately reported a possible ballistic missile that landed outside its Exclusive Economic Zone, Kyodo reported. UN resolutions bar North Korea from ballistic launches of any range.
Landmine dispute
Three South Korean soldiers were hurt by a landmine blast in the DMZ on 21 September. A joint Seoul-UN investigation found the North laid the mines more than a year earlier. Pyongyang denies this, and its UN envoy Kim Song told the Security Council that Seoul fabricated the incident.
Talks offer and drills
Seoul invited Pyongyang last Friday to talks on restoring communication channels, and Al Jazeera says it is unclear whether the North will agree. US and South Korean air forces have flown stealth jets in drills at Kunsan since Monday. Le Monde reports that talk of a Trump-Kim meeting at the mid-November APEC summit in Shenzhen has revived.