North Korea fires ballistic missiles into the sea in latest gesture of defiance

North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles into the sea on Thursday in defiance of UN Security Council resolutions. The missiles, thought to be part of the Soviet-developed Scud series, flew about 500 km (300 miles) into the sea off the east coast city of Wonsan. The North also announced it had scrapped all agreements with the South on commercial exchange projects and would “liquidate” South Korean assets left behind in its territory. The moves were seen as a response to annual South Korean and U.S. war exercises and come a day after leader Kim Jong-Un said the North had successfully miniaturised nuclear warheads which can be mounted on ballistic missiles.

It is obviously a model because Kim and the others in the photos would not stand near it because of concerns of radioactive leaks if it was a real warhead.

Whang Joo-ho of Kyung Hee University in South Korea

The North’s latest inflammatory actions came after new sanctions were imposed on North Korea by the United Nations. Those new economic restrictions were in response to the country’s fourth nuclear test in January, when officials claimed they had set off a miniaturised hydrogen bomb, and the launch of a long-range rocket last month. Experts who have examined photographs of Kim standing next to a nuclear warhead that it was obviously a model as none of those standing near it were wearing protective clothing.

Korea miniature