Seoul

North Korea fired “unidentified” ballistic missiles on Wednesday (Sept 13), as Kim Jong Un held a rare meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

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"North Korea fires unidentified ballistic missile towards the East Sea," Seoul's Joint Chiefs of Staff said, referring to the body of water also known as the Sea of Japan.

Japan also confirmed the firing of ballistic missiles, saying that at least two have fallen outside of Japan's Exclusive Economic Zone, NHK reported citing unnamed government officials.

Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno told reporters that Japan had lodged a protest against North Korea through diplomatic channels in Beijing, reported Reuters news agency.

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The development comes as the North Korean dictator is in Russia with his top military officials to meet Putin on Wednesday for talks focused on defence cooperation.

It is believed that Putin could use the meeting to secure artillery supplies and other ammunition from North Korea to prolong his invasion of Ukraine. In return, experts argue that Kim might seek much-needed economic aid and sophisticated weapons technologies to advance his nuclear weapons and missiles programme.

North Korea has conducted a string of banned weapons tests this year, the last involving firing two short-range ballistic missiles on August 30.

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Kim's 'full-fledged visit'

The Kremlin said that the "fully-fledged visit" would cover "bilateral relations, the situation in the region and in the global arena".

The North Korean leader took a special private train to reach Russia on Tuesday in the Russian Far East accompanied by top defence industry and military aides. He was welcomed by an honour guard and senior Russian and regional officials, North Korean state-run news agency KCNA said.

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"Kim Jong Un said that his visit to the Russian Federation ... is a clear manifestation of the stand of the WPK and the government of the DPRK prioritising the strategic importance of DPRK-Russia relations," the KCNA report said.

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The DPRK stands for North Korea's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, while the WPK is the Workers' Party of Korea, the country's ruling party.

Japan's Kyodo news said Putin and Kim are expected to meet on Wednesday afternoon at Russia's Vostochny cosmodrome, a space centre more than 1,700 km (1,056 miles) north of Khasan, citing an unnamed Russian official.

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