SpaceWar.com reports: “North Korea fired multiple suspected short-range ballistic missiles Friday, Seoul said, hours after leader Kim Jong Un’s powerful sister denied widespread allegations that Pyongyang is shipping weapons to Russia.

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 Friday 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.

The missiles travelled around 300 kilometres (186 miles), the Joint Chiefs of Staff said, adding that the military had ‘strengthened vigilance and surveillance in preparation for additional launches’ and was sharing information with allies Washington and Tokyo…”