North Korea ups stakes: new missile launch

North Korea is back to its old ways, it seems. South Korea's military has reported that its reclusive northern neighbor test-fired two medium-range ballistic missiles Wednesday morning from a site north of Pyongyang into the sea off its east coast.

The military posturing came while the South's leader, Park Gyuen-hye, met with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and U.S. President Barack Obama on the sidelines of the Nuclear Security Summit in The Hague.

United front

South Korean news agency Yonhap reported the three leaders urged tripartite cooperation in the face of North Korean antagonism.

"I think it's very important for our three nations to display this kind of unity and shared determination," President Obama said following the talks.

Japan has registered a "strong protest" with the North Korean embassy in Beijing, Minister for Foreign Affairs Fumio Kishida told a parliamentary session Wednesday. But he said the launch would not affect Japan-North Korea talks scheduled for March 30.

"It is a very important opportunity to make a strong approach to North Korea," he said. "Japan is not considering the change of the plan as of now."

It is believed that two medium-range Rodong missiles -- one at 2.35 AM (local time) and again a few minutes later -- were launched, eventually splashing down in the Sea of Japan, also known by the Koreas as the East Sea.

Several launches of short-range ballistics have been conducted in recent weeks, including one that came within minutes of potentially hitting a Chinese passenger jet. It does not appear that North Korea issued any warnings ahead of Wednesday's launches.

If confirmed, this latest launch marks the first time since 2009 that the DPRK has fired the Rodong class of missile.
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