North Korea fires missiles after dispatching top envoy to Russia

North Korea fired at least two suspected ballistic missiles in what would be its second such barrage this month, as Kim Jong Un’s regime intensifies a threat to expand its nuclear weapons program.

The projectiles were launched early Wednesday and have likely already fallen outside of Japan’s exclusive economic zone, Japan’s Coast Guard said. South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said multiple suspected short-range ballistic missiles were fired toward waters off North Korea’s east coast.

Further details on the launch were not immediately available. North Korea usually does not comment on its missile tests until the following day.

The launch comes after North Korea this week sent its foreign minister to Russia — a major backer of Kim’s regime — for her second trip in less than a year. Pyongyang is also readying for a parliamentary meeting that will likely approve measures that raise tensions with South Korea.

South Korea and the U.S. have accused Kim of sending millions of rounds of artillery shells and scores of ballistic missiles to Russia to aid the Kremlin in its war on Ukraine. Recent weapons tests by Kim’s regime are likely shows for President Vladimir Putin of armaments that he can use in his assault on his neighbor, officials in Seoul have said.

In exchange for the arms, Russia has sent aid that has propped up North Korea’s economy and helped Kim advance his weapons programs, Seoul and Washington have said. Pyongyang and Moscow have denied the accusations despite ample evidence showing the arms transfers taking place.

North Korea fired multiple short-range ballistic missiles off its east coast nearly a week ago. It released images of the launch and the missiles appeared to be similar to rockets that weapons experts said were used by the Kremlin to attack Ukraine.

Ukraine’s military intelligence chief has said supplies of North Korean ammunition to Moscow have been causing major headaches for his country’s defense, as Russia’s full-scale invasion grinds through its third year.

The support from Russia has coincided with Kim taking a tougher stance toward Seoul and Washington. This has included stating his intention to remove the concept of peaceful reunification from the constitution, asserting authority over a contested Yellow Sea maritime border and boasting he has the legal right to annihilate his neighbor on the divided peninsula.

North Korea’s rubber-stamp parliament, known as the Supreme People’s Assembly, will convene on Oct. 7, KCNA reported this week. At the meeting, it is expected to formalize changes to its constitution, after Kim at the last SPA session in January called for removing the concept of “peaceful reunification” with South Korea.