North Korea fires short-range ballistic missiles as regional tensions rise

North Korea has fired two short-range ballistic missiles, South Korea’s military has said, the latest in its flurry of weapons tests in recent weeks.

The launch comes as the South carries out joint amphibious landing exercise with the US, and a few days after they wrapped up their largest combined military drills in five years.

North Korea condemns such exercises as rehearsals for an invasion and has repeatedly threatened “overwhelming” action in response.

“Our military detected two short-range ballistic missiles fired from around Junghwa area in North Hwanghae province,” said South Korea’s joint chiefs of staff.

“Our military has strengthened surveillance and vigilance against additional launches, while maintaining a full readiness posture through close cooperation between South Korea and the United States.”

Japan’s defence ministry also confirmed the launch, with Japanese media citing officials as saying both missiles were believed to have flown on an irregular trajectory before falling outside Japan’s exclusive economic zone.

On Friday, North Korea’s state media claimed the joint training between Seoul and Washington was practice for “occupying” North Korea and called for “stronger war deterrents” including “the more developed, multi-faceted and offensive nuclear attack capability”.

Pyongyang has carried out military drills of its own in response, including test-firing a nuclear-capable underwater drone and conducting two intercontinental ballistic missile launches this year.

Analysts previously said North Korea would probably use the exercises as an excuse to carry out more missile launches and perhaps a nuclear test.

A photo released by the official North Korean Central News Agency shows Kim Jong-un observing a cruise missile exercise on 22 March Photograph: KCNA/EPA

North Korea’s state media said on Friday that the “underwater nuclear attack drone” drill, personally overseen by ruler Kim Jong-un, was staged “to alert the enemy to an actual nuclear crisis”.

The weapon’s mission was to “stealthily infiltrate into operational waters and make a super-scale radioactive tsunami … to destroy naval striker groups and major operational ports of the enemy”, the Korean Central News Agency reported.

The agency also said Pyongyang had fired strategic cruise missiles “tipped with a test warhead simulating a nuclear warhead” on Wednesday.

Analysts questioned North Korea’s claims, saying they were not the same as a credible demonstration of capability, but added that Pyongyang was moving on from simply stockpiling nuclear warheads and attempting to advance and diversify launch mediums.

After a record-breaking year of weapons tests and growing nuclear threats from Pyongyang in 2022, Seoul and Washington have ramped up security cooperation. The conditions have also pushed South Korea and Japan to mend fences over historical disputes and try to boost security cooperation.

North Korea in 2022 declared itself an “irreversible” nuclear power and Kim recently called for an “exponential” increase in weapons production, including tactical nuclear weapons. Kim also ordered the North Korean military this month to intensify drills to prepare for a “real war”.