SEOUL
\nNorth Korea fired three ballistic missiles early on Wednesday morning, South Korea\u2019s military has said.
\nAuthorities in Seoul said the missiles were fired in the space of less than an hour from the Sunan area in Pyongyang.
\nIt comes just a day after US President Joe Biden left the region, following a trip that saw him vowing to bolster measures to deter North Korea.
\nNorth Korea has been test-firing a flurry of ballistic missiles since the beginning of this year.
\nJapan confirmed at least two launches happened on Wednesday but acknowledged there may have been more.
\nJapan\u2019s Defence Minister Nobuo Kishi said first missile flew about 300km (186 miles) with a maximum altitude of around 550 km, while the second, reaching as high as 50 km, travelled around 750 km.
\nMr Kishi criticised the launches, saying they were \u201cnot acceptable\u201d adding that it would \u201cthreaten the peace, stability and safety of Japan and the international community\u201d.
\nIn a meeting convened after the missile launch, South Korea\u2019s National Security Council called the test a \u201cgrave provocation\u201d, the presidential office said.
\nThe launches came hours after US President Joe Biden departed for the US on Tuesday evening, after a five-day trip that saw him visiting South Korea and Japan.
\nUS and South Korean officials had earlier warned that North Korea appeared ready for another weapons test, possibly during Biden\u2019s visit.
\nDuring his visit to Seoul over the weekend, Mr Biden and his South Korean counterpart Yoon Suk-yeol agreed to hold bigger military drills and deploy more US strategic assets if necessary to deter North Korea\u2019s intensifying weapons tests.
\nMr Biden had said the United States was \u201cprepared for anything North Korea does\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
SEOUL North Korea fired three ballistic missiles early on Wednesday morning, South Korea\u2019s military has said. Authorities in Seoul said the missiles were fired in the space of less than an hour from the Sunan area in Pyongyang. It comes just a day after US President Joe Biden left the region, following a trip that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":262678,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[3942],"class_list":["post-262663","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-world","tag-north-korea"],"yoast_head":"\n