North Korea fires multiple short-range ballistic missiles as Blinken visits Seoul

SEOUL, March 17 (UPI) -- North Korea launched multiple short-range ballistic missiles into the East Sea on Monday morning, South Korean defense officials said, as U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Seoul for a multilateral democracy summit.

The South Korean military detected multiple missiles fired from the Pyongyang area between 7:44 a.m and 8:22 a.m., the South's Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a text message to reporters.

The missiles landed in the East Sea after flying for about 185 miles, the JCS said.

"Our military immediately detected, tracked and monitored the North Korean missile launch and closely shared information with the U.S. and Japan," the message said. "Our military will maintain the ability and readiness to respond overwhelmingly to any provocation while keeping a close eye on North Korea's activities under a solid South Korea-U.S. joint defense posture."

Japan also announced that it detected the launch, with defense officials saying that three missiles were fired, each traveling more than 200 miles at a maximum altitude of around 30 miles.

The missiles landed in waters outside of Japan's exclusive economic zone, Tokyo's Defense Ministry said.

The launch came after U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Seoul earlier in the day for the Summit for Democracy, an initiative started by U.S. President Joe Biden in 2021.

South Korea is hosting the three-day event, which kicks off on Monday and brings together government representatives, NGOs and civil society groups for discussions on fostering democracy and combating authoritarianism.

Blinken is also scheduled to meet with his South Korean counterpart, Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul, later on Monday.

The United States and South Korea wrapped up an 11-day large-scale joint training exercise on Thursday, which Pyongyang condemned as preparation for an invasion.

The ballistic missile launch was the first by North Korea since Jan. 14, when it tested what it said was a new solid-fuel intermediate-range ballistic missile.

Pyongyang has also fired several rounds of cruise missiles since the beginning of the year and has kept up a steady stream of threats and military exercises, including recent visits by leader Kim Jong Un to live-fire artillery drills and tank combat training.