North Korea fires rockets, as tensions with South Korea mount

North Korea fired more than 10 rounds of rockets into the Yellow Sea Thursday, just one day after South Korea held joint air drills with the US and Japan — in the latest sign of mounting tensions between the neighboring countries.

The missiles were shot from Pyongyang’s upgraded 240-millimeter multiple rocket launcher — believed to be capable of targeting South Korean population centers including the Seoul metropolitan area — which the hermit country unveiled last year.

“The projectiles, believed to be multiple launch rockets, flew tens of kilometers before falling into the Yellow Sea,”a South Korean military official told local media, adding South Korean and US intelligence are closely analyzing details.

On Wednesday, South Korea, the US and Japan held their first trilateral military air exercise of the Lee Jae Myung administration — the new leader elected earlier this month.

Tensions on the Korean Peninsula have increased in recent months, following North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s alignment with Russian President Vladimir Putin — supplying weapons and as many as 15,000 troops to support Russia’s war against Ukraine.

South Korean officials are concerned that Pyongyang could receive economic aid in return and advanced military technology to further develop its weapons programs.

Kim has also continued to accelerate the development of his nuclear and missile program.

The reclusive leader has been visiting military industrial factories across the country, calling on them to ramp up production of shells in order to meet the demands of war in the 21st century.

North Korea also successfully built two 5,000-ton naval destroyers this year, with Kim calling the new battleship “convincing proof of the rapid transformation of our Navy.”