North Korea fires ballistic missiles after denying Russia arms transfers

North Korea fired multiple short-range ballistic missiles, Seoul's military said on May 17, hours after North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's powerful sister Kim Yo Jong denied widespread allegations that Pyongyang is shipping weapons to Russia.

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The launches are the latest in a string of ever more sophisticated tests by North Korea, which has fired off cruise missiles, tactical rockets and hypersonic weapons in recent months, in what the nuclear-armed country says is a drive to upgrade its defences.

Seoul and Washington have accused North Korea of sending arms to Russia, which would violate rafts of UN sanctions on both countries, with experts saying the recent spate of testing may be of weapons destined for use on battlefields in Ukraine.

Seoul's military said on May 17 it had detected the launch of what it described as "several flying objects presumed to be short-range ballistic missiles" from North Korea's eastern Wonsan area into waters off its coast.