The South Korean military has described Pyongyang’s decision to fire two ballistic missiles into the sea on Sunday as “very inappropriate”, as the world struggles to tackle the coronavirus outbreak.
South Korea and Japan said North Korea fired the projectiles from Wonsan, a city in the east of the country, on Sunday morning.
After flying approximately 230km (143 miles), the missiles landed in the waters between the Korean peninsula and Japan.
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South Korea’s military urged its neighbour to refrain from such military action, labelling the launches as “very inappropriate” at a time when the world is dealing with the coronavirus pandemic.
Japan’s defence ministry said in a statement that the presumed missiles were thought to have entered the sea outside of Japan’s exclusive economic zone.
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“I loved music so much when I was in North Korea and I wanted to learn [to play] but I wasn’t able to learn” – Soon-Hee Jee, 77
Catherine Hyland
2/13
“So, although I am old now, because I came here when times are good, I am enthusiastically learning music now” – Soon-Hee Jee, 77
Catherine Hyland
3/13
“At the moment, I am part of the 70s Seniors’ Choir, I dance, and I play the gayageum, flute and janggu at the Senior Citizens Centre” – Soon-Hee Jee, 77
Catherine Hyland
4/13
Oh-Doug Kwon
Catherine Hyland
5/13
Hyun-Sook Lee
Catherine Hyland
6/13
Hyun-Sook Lee and the choir
Catherine Hyland
7/13
Lee-Sook Sung, 77
Catherine Hyland
8/13
“I was a leader of the local People’s Unit whilst living in North Korea. I was responsible for and led all activity within my local People’s Unit” – Lee-Sook Sung, 77
Catherine Hyland
9/13
“Life became too difficult and we had no hopes of getting by so my husband went to China first and afterwards I followed him. I paid a broker and like that I crossed over to China” – Lee-Sook Sung, 77
Catherine Hyland
10/13
“Coming over from China, I gave money to the brokers who guide the way for you – they make fake passports and buy tickets under different names to bring you here” – Lee-Sook Sung, 77
Pictures by Catherine Hyland
11/13
“I like singing, playing the janggu and dancing – I like those [sorts of] arts” – Lee-Sook Sung, 77
Catherine Hyland
12/13
“I have decided to enjoy music and the arts even more and live a happy life by attending the Senior Citizens’ Centre enthusiastically” – Lee-Sook Sung, 77
Pictures by Catherine Hyland
13/13
“My husband is always making a great and consistent effort, wanting to live happily” – Lee-Sook Sung, 77
Catherine Hyland
1/13
“I loved music so much when I was in North Korea and I wanted to learn [to play] but I wasn’t able to learn” – Soon-Hee Jee, 77
Catherine Hyland
2/13
“So, although I am old now, because I came here when times are good, I am enthusiastically learning music now” – Soon-Hee Jee, 77
Catherine Hyland
3/13
“At the moment, I am part of the 70s Seniors’ Choir, I dance, and I play the gayageum, flute and janggu at the Senior Citizens Centre” – Soon-Hee Jee, 77
Catherine Hyland
4/13
Oh-Doug Kwon
Catherine Hyland
5/13
Hyun-Sook Lee
Catherine Hyland
6/13
Hyun-Sook Lee and the choir
Catherine Hyland
7/13
Lee-Sook Sung, 77
Catherine Hyland
8/13
“I was a leader of the local People’s Unit whilst living in North Korea. I was responsible for and led all activity within my local People’s Unit” – Lee-Sook Sung, 77
Catherine Hyland
9/13
“Life became too difficult and we had no hopes of getting by so my husband went to China first and afterwards I followed him. I paid a broker and like that I crossed over to China” – Lee-Sook Sung, 77
Catherine Hyland
10/13
“Coming over from China, I gave money to the brokers who guide the way for you – they make fake passports and buy tickets under different names to bring you here” – Lee-Sook Sung, 77
Pictures by Catherine Hyland
11/13
“I like singing, playing the janggu and dancing – I like those [sorts of] arts” – Lee-Sook Sung, 77
Catherine Hyland
12/13
“I have decided to enjoy music and the arts even more and live a happy life by attending the Senior Citizens’ Centre enthusiastically” – Lee-Sook Sung, 77
Pictures by Catherine Hyland
13/13
“My husband is always making a great and consistent effort, wanting to live happily” – Lee-Sook Sung, 77
Catherine Hyland
Referring to these and other short-range projectiles Pyongyang has launched in the past few weeks, the statement added: “Recent repeated firings of ballistic missiles by North Korea is a serious problem to the entire international community including Japan.”
Experts think that these launches are an attempt to display leader Kim Jong-un’s control in the face of US sanctions and the Co-19 pandemic.
Kim Dong-yub, an analyst at Seoul’s Institute for Far Eastern Studies, said the North Korean leader “wants to show he rules in a normal way amid the coronavirus (pandemic) and his latest weapons tests were aimed at rallying unity internally, not launching a threat externally”.
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Pyongyang has so far denied that the country has any coronavirus cases but has acknowledged that the virus is a matter of “national existence”.
The country’s shortage of medical supplies and poor healthcare infrastructure make it particularly vulnerable to an epidemic.
Last week, President Donald Trump sent a letter to Kim Jong-un offering cooperation in the fight against the virus.
Additional reporting from AP
