North Korea Fires Short-range Ballistic Missiles Into Sea

The ballistic missile launch comes a week after North Korea claimed to have fired a new hypersonic missile system (Credit: AFP)

North Korea fired several short-range ballistic missiles into the sea Tuesday, according to Seoul's military, in what experts said could be a message to US President-elect Donald Trump's incoming administration.

The launch comes as Japan's foreign minister Takeshi Iwaya visits South Korea for a series of meetings with top officials, with the Asian neighbours seeking to boost bilateral ties before Trump returns to office next week.