By Bongiwe Dlamini

MBABANE:North Korea has launched suspected ballistic missiles into the sea, Seoul and Tokyo say, in what appears to be a weapons test before a major political congress in the country, Aljazeera reported.

The launches on Tuesday were the second this month after a volley on January 4 as South Korean President Lee Jae Myung kicked off a state visit to China.

South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said the missiles were launched from near Pyongyang at around 3:50pm local time (0650 GMT) towards ​the sea off its east coast, flying ‍about 350 km (217 miles).

But South Korea’s Office of National Security called on Pyongyang to immediately halt ballistic missile launches, condemning them as provocative activities in violation of the United Nations Security Council resolutions.

“Japan’s Prime Minister’s Office and Ministry of Defence also said Pyongyang fired what appeared to be two ballistic missiles towards the Sea of Japan. Japan said they reached a maximum altitude of 80 km (50 miles). The country’s Coast Guard, citing the Defence Ministry, said both were believed to have splashed down”, reads the Aljazeera report in part.

Japan said Pyongyang’s repeated launches of ballistic missiles threatened “the peace and security of our country, the region and the international community”.

“Such ​ballistic missile launches also violate relevant UN Security Council resolutions ‌and constitute a grave issue affecting the safety of the public. Japan has lodged a strong protest with North Korea and strongly condemned these actions,” it said in a statement.

The Japanese News Agency Jiji Press reported the projectiles had landed outside the country’s exclusive economic zone, quoting Defence Ministry sources.