North Korea fires missiles toward sea as tensions with South Korea rise

North Korea launched a barrage of ballistic missiles toward the sea on Thursday, South Korea’s military said, days after the North threatened to resume front-line propaganda loudspeaker broadcasts and deploy new weapons along the rivals’ tense border.

The launches also followed leader Kim Jong Un’s surprise weekend visit to China, the North’s main ally and economic pipeline, to push for greater cooperation.

South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said it detected about 10 short-range ballistic missiles fired from the North’s eastern costal town of Wonsan. Animosity between the Koreas have deepened after last month’s land mine blasts that injured three South Korean soldiers. Seoul accused North Korea of planting mines south of the military demarcation line that caused the September 21 blasts, but Pyongyang has denied responsibility for the explosions and warned of retaliation if provoked.