North Korea fires 'several' cruise missiles off its west coast, says South Korea’s military

Seoul, South Korea

North Korea fired several cruise missiles into waters off its west coast on Tuesday (Jan 30), said South Korea’s military, marking the third time that Pyongyang has tested cruise missiles in less than a week.

What did South Korea say?

South Korea’s military “detected several unknown cruise missiles launched into the West Sea of North Korea around 07:00 (local time)”, said Seoul’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) in a statement. However, the number of missiles was not specified.

“While strengthening our monitoring and vigilance, our military has been closely coordinating with the United States to monitor additional signs of North Korea’s provocations,” the JCS told reporters, as quoted by the South Korean news agency Yonhap. 

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The launch comes amid a rise in tensions in the Korean peninsula.  

North Korea’s recent missile tests

North Korea’s state-run news agency KCNA, on Monday (Jan 29) said its leader Kim Jong Un oversaw the launch of Pulhwasal-3-31 missiles from a submarine a day prior. 

On Sunday (Jan 28), the South Korean military said its neighbour had fired an unidentified cruise missile around the Sinpo area, days after it staged live-fire exercises near the tense maritime border.

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Earlier on Sunday, Pyongyang denounced a series of military drills conducted by American and South Korean troops in recent weeks and warned of “merciless” consequences. 

North Korea, on Wednesday (Jan 24), claimed to have tested its new strategic cruise missile dubbed ‘Pulhwasal-3-31’ which it said was currently under development. 

At the time, KCNA had also reported that the test-firing had no impact on the security of neighbouring countries, and it had “nothing” to do with the regional situation.

Notably, the testing of cruise missiles, which are jet-propelled and fly at lower altitudes, is not banned under current United Nations sanctions on North Korea, unlike their ballistic counterparts. 

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Cruise missiles are also more sophisticated ballistic missiles, making them harder to detect and intercept.

The rise in tensions in the Korean peninsula is marked by the North Korean leader’s weapons test and increasingly hostile rhetoric against South Korea, including calling for Seoul to be branded as its “primary foe”. 

(With inputs from agencies)