North Korea fired what appeared to be multiple short-range ballistic missiles off its east coast, South Korea’s military said on Thursday, possibly to test the performance and stability of various projectiles intended for export. The missiles were launched from Wonsan, North Korea’s eastern coastal city, around 8:10 a.m. (2310 GMT Wednesday) and flew up to 800 km (497 miles) before splashing down in the sea, the military said in a statement. South Korea is closely communicating with the U.S. and Japan to share information about the launch, it added. The foreign ministry said the three countries’ nuclear envoys consulted by telephone and condemned it as a violation of U.N. sanctions. South Korea’s Joint chiefs of Staff spokesperson Lee Sung-jun declined to comment on the exact number of missiles detected or their characteristics, but told reporters the launch may have been to test the performance of missiles intended for export. A North Korea analyst at the Korea Institute for National Unification, Hong Min, said they were likely two types of short-range ballistic missiles that had been supplied to Russia which used them to strike Ukraine. “There is considerable amount of field data of these two missiles collected, and it’s possible additional testing was needed to improve issues reported from the battlefield such as durability and precision,” Hong said.

Full report : North Korea Fires New Missile Warning at US and Allies.