North Korea's launch Wednesday morning of what appeared to be two short-range ballistic missiles prompted a fresh protest from Tokyo, but appears unlikely to derail ongoing talks over the abduction of Japanese nationals.
According to South Korea's Yonhap news agency, the Scud-type missiles were fired from an air base in the western province of Hwanghae at 4 a.m. and 4:20 a.m., flying approximately 500 km eastward before splashing down harmlessly into the sea.
Speaking at a news conference Wednesday, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said Tokyo had confirmed that multiple ballistic missiles — probably two or three — had been fired into the Sea of Japan from North Korea, adding that Tokyo had filed a protest via Pyongyang's embassy in Beijing.