North Korea fires missiles toward sea after ridiculing South’s hopes for better ties

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea fired several ballistic missiles toward the sea Wednesday in its second launch event in two days, South Korea’s military said, hours after a senior North Korean official released crude insults against Seoul’s hopes for warmer relations.

South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said the missiles lifted off from North Korea’s eastern costal Wonsan area and flew toward the North’s eastern waters. It said South Korea has bolstered its surveillance posture while closely exchanging related information with the United States.

The military said it had also detected the launch of an unidentified projectile near North Korea’s capital region Tuesday. It said South Korean and U.S. intelligence authorities were analyzing details of Tuesday’s launch.

South Korean media reported the previous projectile, a likely ballistic missile, disappeared from South Korean military radars after displaying an abnormal development in the initial launch stage. This indicated the launch ended in a failure, according to the reports.

The back-to-back launches came after North Korea made it clear that it has no intentions of improving ties with South Korea, whose liberal government has steadfastly expressed its hopes to