North Korea fires ballistic missiles towards Sea of Japan

People sit in front of a television screen showing a news broadcast with file footage of a North Korean missile test, at a train station in Seoul on January 27, 2026. [AFP]

North Korea fired at least two ballistic missiles towards the Sea of Japan on Tuesday, Tokyo and Seoul said, a day after a visiting US official hailed Washington's "model ally" in the South.

Pyongyang has significantly increased missile testing in recent years, aimed according to analysts at improving precision strike capabilities, challenging Washington as well as Seoul, and testing weapons before exporting them to key ally Russia.