North Korea fires several missiles from Sondok toward the East Sea, its fourth launch in a month

South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said the military "detected several missiles launched from the Sondok area of North Korea towards the East Sea on the morning of November 4," using the Korean name for the Sea of Japan. Seoul and Washington are analysing the missiles' specifications and say their forces stay ready to respond to any provocation. Whether the missiles were ballistic or cruise missiles was not immediately clear.

The launch extends a run of testing. North Korea said it test fired strategic cruise missiles at the start of the week, and over the weekend it said it tested cluster warheads on a ballistic missile and a cruise missile, claims South Korea has not confirmed. North Korea has also tested a missile this year that flew more than 900 kilometres, and hypersonic missiles. Tensions on the border are already raised by a landmine explosion that wounded three South Korean soldiers, which a joint Seoul and UN investigation concluded came from mines the North planted more than a year earlier.

Kim Yo Jong, the sister of Kim Jong Un, has ruled out dialogue with Washington until the United States abandons what she called its hostile policy. In Japan, officials are watching a second question: whether a Trump administration with a Democratic Congress turns back to North Korea diplomacy, and whether Japan's priorities, denuclearisation and the abductions of Japanese citizens, get a place in any such talks. Lee Choon-geun, a missile expert at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, told reporters the pace of testing suggests Pyongyang may be close to completing preparations for mass production, possibly including weapons for export to Russia. That is an analyst's judgement, not a finding, and no export from this test series has been shown.