SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea fired three ballistic missiles off its east coast Monday, South Korea’s military said, in a show of force timed to the G-20 economic summit in China.

North Korea regularly engages in missile and rocket tests, especially when international attention is turned to Northeast Asia. World leaders are gathering for the G-20 summit of advanced and emerging economies in the city of Hangzhou in eastern China. Beijing is the North’s only major ally, but ties between the neighbors have frayed amid a string of nuclear and missile tests and what many outsiders see as other provocations in recent years.

South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement that the three missiles, launched from the western North Korean town of Hwangju, flew across the country before splashing in the waters off its east coast, but officials did not describe the range of the missiles.

Before the firing, on Monday on the sidelines of the G-20 summit, South Korean President Park Geun-hye criticized the North for what she called provocations that are hurting Seoul-Beijing ties.

The launch comes four days before the 68th anniversary of the founding of North Korea’s government, and days after South Korean and U.S. troops ended annual joint summertime military drills, which North Korea regularly describes as a dress rehearsal for invasion.

Last month, worries about the North’s weapons programs deepened after a missile from a North Korean submarine flew about 500 kilometers (310 miles), the longest distance achieved by the North for such a weapon.

The U.N. Security Council in late August strongly condemned four North Korean ballistic missile launches in July and August. It called them “grave violations” of a ban on all ballistic missile activity.</s>SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea fired three ballistic missiles off its east coast Monday, South Korea's military said, in a show of force timed to the G-20 economic summit in China.

North Korea regularly engages in missile and rocket tests, especially when international attention is turned to Northeast Asia. World leaders are gathering for the G-20 summit of advanced and emerging economies in the city of Hangzhou in eastern China. Beijing is the North's only major ally, but ties between the neighbors have frayed amid a string of nuclear and missile tests and what many outsiders see as other provocations in recent years.

South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement that the three missiles, launched from the western North Korean town of Hwangju, flew across the country before splashing in the waters off its east coast, but officials did not describe the range of the missiles.

Before the firing, on Monday on the sidelines of the G-20 summit, South Korean President Park Geun-hye criticized the North for what she called provocations that are hurting Seoul-Beijing ties.

The launch comes four days before the 68th anniversary of the founding of North Korea's government, and days after South Korean and U.S. troops ended annual joint summertime military drills, which North Korea regularly describes as a dress rehearsal for invasion.

Last month, worries about the North's weapons programs deepened after a missile from a North Korean submarine flew about 500 kilometers (310 miles), the longest distance achieved by the North for such a weapon.

The U.N. Security Council in late August strongly condemned four North Korean ballistic missile launches in July and August. It called them "grave violations" of a ban on all ballistic missile activity.</s>President Obama vowed Tuesday to toughen international sanctions against North Korea after its government conducted a test missile launch as world leaders gathered for summits in Asia.

Speaking with reporters after a meeting here with South Korean President Park Geun-hye, Obama said that the two agreed to work “diligently together” on the most recent United Nations sanctions against North Korea to close loopholes “and make them even more effective.”

"The entire international community needs to implement these sanctions fully and hold North Korea accountable," Obama said on the sidelines of a summit of southeast Asian leaders in his last presidential trip to the continent.

On Monday, North Korea launched three ballistic missiles – a test widely believed to be an effort to garner attention from international summits in Beijing and Vientiane.

Park told reporters that North Korea’s acts were “fundamentally threatening” and that she and Obama had agreed to “respond resolutely” to the defiance of international demands that North Korea end its pursuit of nuclear weapons.

In March, the U.N. Security Council imposed the toughest sanctions in decades on North Korea after it began a round of nuclear and ballistic missile tests. The sanctions subject all cargo in and out of North Korea to inspections, bans exports of natural resources including coal and gold, tightens a weapons embargo and ends relationships with outside banks.

Obama believes the U.S. and Korea have to be vigilant in sanctions enforcement, aides said.

“We want to make sure we’re cutting off all the lifelines that North Korea tries to grab onto,” said Deputy National Security Advisor Ben Rhodes.

Obama also said the U.S. was still open to the possibility of talks with North Korea if it were to recognize its international obligations and work to denuclearize the Korean Peninsula.

“The opportunities for us to dialogue with them are there," Obama said. The U.S. has no interest in an “offensive approach” to North Korea, he said.

Obama had originally been scheduled to meet on Tuesday afternoon with the controversial new Philippine president, Rodrigo Duterte, but he canceled that meeting when Duterte threated to curse at him if he raised questions about Duterte’s human rights record. Obama insisted he would raise that issue, and thus canceled the meeting.

Follow @cparsons for news about the White House.

In China, Obama struggles for elusive deal with Russia on Syria

Obama makes progress on climate change, the bright spot in his China policy

Duterte expresses regret for his Obama insult. But he's always had a way with words</s>North Korea fired three ballistic missiles off its east coast Monday, South Korea's military said, in a show of force timed to the G-20 economic summit in China.

North Korea regularly engages in missile and rocket tests, especially when international attention is turned to Northeast Asia. World leaders are gathering for the G-20 summit of advanced and emerging economies in the city of Hangzhou in eastern China. Beijing is the North's only major ally, but ties between the neighbors have frayed amid a string of nuclear and missile tests and what many outsiders see as other provocations in recent years.

South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement that the three missiles, launched from the western North Korean town of Hwangju, flew across the country before splashing in the waters off its east coast, but officials did not describe the range of the missiles.

Before the firing, on Monday on the sidelines of the G-20 summit, South Korean President Park Geun-hye criticized the North for what she called provocations that are hurting Seoul-Beijing ties.

The launch comes four days before the 68th anniversary of the founding of North Korea's government, and days after South Korean and U.S. troops ended annual joint summertime military drills, which North Korea regularly describes as a dress rehearsal for invasion.

Last month, worries about the North's weapons programs deepened after a missile from a North Korean submarine flew about 500 kilometers (310 miles), the longest distance achieved by the North for such a weapon.

The U.N. Security Council in late August strongly condemned four North Korean ballistic missile launches in July and August. It called them "grave violations" of a ban on all ballistic missile activity.</s>VIENTIANE, Laos (Tribune Washington Bureau/TNS) - President Barack Obama vowed Tuesday to toughen international sanctions against North Korea after its government conducted a test missile launch as world leaders gathered for summits in Asia.

Speaking with reporters after a meeting here with South Korean President Park Geun-hye, Obama said that the two agreed to work “diligently together” on the most recent United Nations sanctions against North Korea to close loopholes “and make them even more effective.”

“The entire international community needs to implement these sanctions fully and hold North Korea accountable,” Obama said on the sidelines of a summit of Southeast Asian leaders in his last presidential trip to the continent.

On Monday, North Korea launched three ballistic missiles – a test widely believed to be an effort to garner attention from international summits in Beijing and Vientiane.

Park told reporters that North Korea’s acts were “fundamentally threatening” and that she and Obama had agreed to “respond resolutely” to the defiance of international demands that North Korea end its pursuit of nuclear weapons.

In March, the U.N. Security Council imposed the toughest sanctions in decades on North Korea after it began a round of nuclear and ballistic missile tests. The sanctions subject all cargo in and out of North Korea to inspections, ban exports of natural resources including coal and gold, tighten a weapons embargo and end relationships with outside banks.

Obama believes the U.S. and Korea have to be vigilant in sanctions enforcement, aides said.

“We want to make sure we’re cutting off all the lifelines that North Korea tries to grab onto,” said Deputy National Security Advisor Ben Rhodes.

Obama also said the U.S. was still open to the possibility of talks with North Korea if it were to recognize its international obligations and work to denuclearize the Korean Peninsula.

“The opportunities for us to dialogue with them are there,” Obama said. The U.S. has no interest in an “offensive approach” to North Korea, he said.

Obama had originally been scheduled to meet on Tuesday afternoon with the controversial new Philippine president, Rodrigo Duterte, but he canceled that meeting when Duterte threatened to curse at him if he raised questions about Duterte’s human rights record. Obama insisted he would raise that issue, and thus canceled the meeting.</s>North Korea fires three ballistic missiles into sea, South Korea says

Updated

North Korea has fired three ballistic missiles into the sea off its east coast, says South Korea, as the leaders of the Group of 20 major economies held a summit in China, the North's main diplomatic ally.

Key points: Pyongyang's latest missile launches violate UN Security Council resolutions

Seoul has told Beijing Pyongyang's actions harm South Korea-China ties

Beijing says it is committed to a denuclearised Korean peninsula

The missiles were fired from a western region south of the capital Pyongyang, just after noon local time, South Korea's Office of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement.

The missiles were launched from a region called Hwangju and came just hours after the leaders of South Korea and China met on the sidelines of the Group of 20 leaders' meeting in Hangzhou, China.

No other details about the launch were immediately available.

The missile launches were the latest in a series of launches by the isolated North this year in violation of UN Security Council resolutions.

These latest tests have sparked strong protests from senior Japanese and US officials.

The launches "are a grave security provocation and can never be permitted", Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida said.

"We have lodged a strong protest against North Korea."

A senior US administration official at the G20 in Hangzhou also condemned the launches as a threat to its allies and to civilian air travel, and vowed diplomatic action against the Pyongyang regime.

"Today's reckless launches by North Korea pose threats to civil aviation and maritime commerce in the region," the official said.

Washington would try to "bolster international resolve to hold the DPRK (North Korea) accountable for its provocative actions".

The South's military was trying to determine the type of missiles launched, a military official said.

China's Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said Beijing hoped relevant parties avoid taking any actions that may escalate tensions.

South Korean President Park Geun-hye told Chinese President Xi Jinping that the North's fourth nuclear test and its ballistic missile launches this year threatened regional peace and posed a challenge to South Korea's ties with China, Yonhap news agency reported earlier.

During the meeting, Mr Xi reaffirmed China's commitment to realising the denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula, China's state news agency Xinhua reported on Monday.

Ms Xi also told Ms Park that Beijing opposed the proposed deployment of a THAAD anti-missile system in South Korea, which Seoul and the United States have said is designed to counter an increasing threat from North Korea.

Ms Park said that a THAAD deployment would not threaten any other country's security interests and would not be needed if the North's nuclear issue was resolved, Yonhap news agency said.

In July, the North launched three missiles in a single day from the western region that flew across the country and into the sea off its east coast, flying up to 600 kilometres.

In 2014, the North fired two Rodong medium-range missiles just as Ms Park and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe were sitting down with US President Barack Obama at the Hague to discuss responding to the North's arms programme.

Reuters

Topics: defence-and-national-security, world-politics, unrest-conflict-and-war, korea-democratic-peoples-republic-of, korea-republic-of, asia

First posted</s>VIENTIANE, Laos (Tribune Washington Bureau/TNS) - President Barack Obama vowed Tuesday to toughen international sanctions against North Korea after its government conducted a test missile launch as world leaders gathered for summits in Asia.

Speaking with reporters after a meeting here with South Korean President Park Geun-hye, Obama said that the two agreed to work “diligently together” on the most recent United Nations sanctions against North Korea to close loopholes “and make them even more effective.”

“The entire international community needs to implement these sanctions fully and hold North Korea accountable,” Obama said on the sidelines of a summit of Southeast Asian leaders in his last presidential trip to the continent.

On Monday, North Korea launched three ballistic missiles – a test widely believed to be an effort to garner attention from international summits in Beijing and Vientiane.

Park told reporters that North Korea’s acts were “fundamentally threatening” and that she and Obama had agreed to “respond resolutely” to the defiance of international demands that North Korea end its pursuit of nuclear weapons.

In March, the U.N. Security Council imposed the toughest sanctions in decades on North Korea after it began a round of nuclear and ballistic missile tests. The sanctions subject all cargo in and out of North Korea to inspections, ban exports of natural resources including coal and gold, tighten a weapons embargo and end relationships with outside banks.

Obama believes the U.S. and Korea have to be vigilant in sanctions enforcement, aides said.

“We want to make sure we’re cutting off all the lifelines that North Korea tries to grab onto,” said Deputy National Security Advisor Ben Rhodes.

Obama also said the U.S. was still open to the possibility of talks with North Korea if it were to recognize its international obligations and work to denuclearize the Korean Peninsula.

“The opportunities for us to dialogue with them are there,” Obama said. The U.S. has no interest in an “offensive approach” to North Korea, he said.

Obama had originally been scheduled to meet on Tuesday afternoon with the controversial new Philippine president, Rodrigo Duterte, but he canceled that meeting when Duterte threatened to curse at him if he raised questions about Duterte’s human rights record. Obama insisted he would raise that issue, and thus canceled the meeting.</s>SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea fired three ballistic missiles off its east coast Monday, South Korea’s military said, in a show of force timed to the G-20 economic summit in China.

North Korea regularly engages in missile and rocket tests, especially when international attention is turned to Northeast Asia. World leaders are gathering for the G-20 summit of advanced and emerging economies in the city of Hangzhou in eastern China. Beijing is the North’s only major ally, but ties between the neighbors have frayed amid a string of nuclear and missile tests and what many outsiders see as other provocations in recent years.

South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement that the three missiles, launched from the western North Korean town of Hwangju, flew across the country before splashing in the waters off its east coast, but officials did not describe the range of the missiles.

Before the firing, on Monday on the sidelines of the G-20 summit, South Korean President Park Geun-hye criticized the North for what she called provocations that are hurting Seoul-Beijing ties.

The launch comes four days before the 68th anniversary of the founding of North Korea’s government, and days after South Korean and U.S. troops ended annual joint summertime military drills, which North Korea regularly describes as a dress rehearsal for invasion.

Last month, worries about the North’s weapons programs deepened after a missile from a North Korean submarine flew about 500 kilometers (310 miles), the longest distance achieved by the North for such a weapon.

The U.N. Security Council in late August strongly condemned four North Korean ballistic missile launches in July and August. It called them “grave violations” of a ban on all ballistic missile activity.</s>South Korea says North Korea has fired three ballistic missiles off its east coast in a show of force timed to the Group of 20 economic summit in China.

North Korea regularly engages in missile and rocket tests, especially when the world’s eyes are turned to Northeast Asia.

World leaders are gathering for the G-20 summit of advanced and emerging economies in the city of Hangzhou in eastern China, which is the North’s only major ally.

On Monday on the sidelines of the summit, South Korean President Park Geun-hye criticized the North for what she called provocations that are hurting Seoul-Beijing ties.

The launches came hours after the leaders of South Korea and China, the North’s main diplomatic ally, met on the sidelines of the summit in Hangzhou.

The missiles were fired from a western region south of the capital Pyongyang, the South Korea’s Office of Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement just after noon local time. No other details were immediately available.

At their meeting earlier in the day, Chinese President Xi Jinping told his South Korean counterpart that China opposes the U.S. deployment of the THAAD anti-missile system in South Korea, the official Xinhua News Agency reported Monday.

China has repeatedly expressed anger since the United States and South Korea made a final decision in July to deploy the U.S. Terminal High Altitude Area Defence (THAAD) system in the South to counter missile and nuclear threats from North Korea.

“Mishandling the issue is not conducive to strategic stability in the region and could intensify disputes,” Xinhua quoted Xi as telling Park.

Beijing worries the system’s radar will be able to track its military capabilities.

North Korea, which had threatened a “physical response” against the THAAD decision, has conducted a series of military technology tests this year, including a fourth nuclear test in January, in defiance of U.N. Security Council sanctions that were tightened in March.

It fired a submarine-launched missile on August 24 that flew about 500 km (300 miles) toward Japan, a show of improving technological capability for the isolated country.

“North Korea’s fourth nuclear test and ballistic missile provocations this year have gravely damaged peace on the Korean Peninsula and the region and posed a challenge to the development of South Korea-China ties,” Park told Xi, according to South Korea’s Yonhap news agency.

Officials in South Korea and the U.S. have tried to assuage Chinese fears, insisting that the move is designed purely to counter growing missile threats from North Korea, and not to target China.

Xi said China and South Korea shared “broad common interests” and should “cherish their existing cooperative foundation and overcome difficulties and challenges”, Xinhua reported. He also reaffirmed China’s commitment to the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.

Since the decision to deploy THAAD in South Korea, China’s Defence Ministry has since confirmed that it is pressing ahead with its own anti-missile system tests.</s>(CNN) North Korea fired three ballistic missiles Monday morning, according to South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff.

The missiles were fired from areas around Hwangju country, in North Hwanghae province, towards the Sea of Japan, the Joint Chiefs said in a statement.

This comes just under two weeks after Pyongyang test-fired a submarine-launched ballistic missile . That missile entered Japan's air defense identification zone, the first time that has happened.

It also comes at a potentially embarrassing time for North Korea's only real ally , China, which is currently hosting the Group of Nations summit in Hangzhou

At the G20, Chinese President Xi Jinping told his South Korean counterpart on Monday that Beijing opposes the deployment of the United States' THAAD missile defense system to South Korea, according to China's official Xinhua News Agency.

"Mishandling the issue is not conducive to strategic stability in the region and could intensify disputes," Xinhua quoted Xi as telling Park Geun-hye.

The stated purpose of the THAAD system is to defend South Korea from missile attack from the North.
South Korea reports that North Korea has fired three ballistic missiles into the Sea of Japan.