North Korea launches two short-range missiles into sea

Two suspected short-range missiles have been launched by North Korea, South Korea says, in the fourth such test in two weeks.

The projectiles were fired from a western province into waters east of the Korean peninsula in the early hours of Wednesday, officials said.

The move follows a recent visit by the Chinese president to South Korea.

Chinese leaders traditionally go to Pyongyang before Seoul, and the visit has been seen as a snub to North Korea.

“North Korea fired two short-range missiles presumed to be Scud-type ones… from a site in Hwanghae province in a north-easterly direction,” South Korean spokesman Um Hyo-sik was quoted as saying by Yonhap news agency.

“They flew some 500km [310 miles] and landed in international waters,” he added, without giving further details.

North Korea has carried out several such launches in recent months, including four within the last two weeks.

It has interspersed these launches with apparently conciliatory moves towards the South, including a recent offer to suspend provocative military activities and cross-border slander.

Previous similar offers have come to nothing and South Korea has dismissed this latest offer.

The latest launch also comes days after Chinese President Xi Jinping and his South Korean counterpart Park Geun-hye reaffirmed their opposition to North Korean nuclear tests during talks in Seoul.