North Korea test-fires 10 short-range ballistic missiles

North Korea on Thursday (Oct 29) test-fired around ​10 short-range ballistic missiles toward the ‌sea off its east coast, said South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff. The missiles were ​launched at around 12:30 p.m. (0330 GMT) ​from an area around Wonsan on North ⁠Korea's eastern coast, the JCS said in ​a statement.

The South Korean military said the tests were done to strengthen surveillance ​and maintain readiness in case of additional launches. It also said that information was being shared with the United States and ​Japan on the launch.

Meanwhile, Japan's Defence Ministry said North ​Korea launched likely launched a ballistic ⁠missile which fell outside Japan's Exclusive Economic Zone, reported Yonhap News Agency. However, it did not clarify on how many missiles Tokyo had detected.

The last time Pyongyang had fired a ballistic missile was on Oct. 12. During the launch North Korea had said the test was done to confirm the success of a technical upgrade to “an important core element.”

In fact, North Korea has conducted missile tests on ‌more ​than 10 occasions ‌this year despite being under UN sanctions since 2006, which aims at halting Pyongyang's development of nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles.