North Korea fires multiple cruise missiles into sea in fifth test since January, South Korea says

North Korea has fired multiple missiles off its east coast in its fifth test of such weapons since January, said South Korea’s military.

The missiles were launched at 9am local time off the coastal city of Wonsan, the Joint Chiefs of Staff said, extending a streak in weapons demonstrations that are elevating tensions in the region.

"While strengthening surveillance and vigilance, our military is cooperating closely with the United States and closely monitoring additional signs and activities from North Korea," the JCS said in a statement.

The South Korean military didn’t immediately provide the exact numbers of missiles fired or how far they flew. It wasn’t immediately clear either whether the missiles were fired from land or from sea assets.

North Korea earlier test-fired a new strategic cruise missile capable of carrying a nuclear warhead on 24 January. It then fired a submarine-launched cruise missile on 28 January, and two additional rounds of tests from the west coast in the same week, reported Yonhap News Agency. Since cruise missiles fly low, they are harder to detect and intercept.

Experts have raised concerns that the weapon tests are being done before being sent to Russia for their war on Ukraine. "It is believed that North Korea exported large quantities of multiple rocket launchers to Russia last year," Ahn Chan-il, a defector-turned-researcher who runs the World Institute for North Korea Studies, told AFP.

He said that there may have been issues with the quality of weapons shipped to Moscow and the weapons are being tested to “address the issue”.

There are concerns that North Korea is also ramping up pressure on its rivals in an election year in South Korea and the United States with a long-term focus of forcing Washington to accept the idea of the North as a nuclear power and extract security and economic concessions from a position of strength.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has also been issuing belligerent statements toward South Korea, including a declaration that he would abandon the North’s long-term objective of reconciliation with its war-divided rival and threatening to annihilate the South with nukes if provoked. There’s concern in the South that Mr Kim may up the ante with a direct military provocation, possibly around the disputed western sea boundary between the Koreas that has been the site of deadly naval skirmishes in past years.

Cruise missiles, which are designed to be highly maneuverable in flight like small airplanes, are among a growing number of weapons North Korea is developing to overwhelm missile defences, supplementing the country’s vast number of ballistic missiles designed to be fired from land and sea.

The North earlier this year tested new cruise missiles designed to be fired from submarines and also long-range cruise missiles with potential range of reaching US military bases in Japan.

United States, South Korea and Japan have been strengthening their combined military exercises and sharpening their nuclear deterrence strategies.

Additional reporting by agencies