Seoul

Pregnant women had C-sections cancelled and cancer treatments were postponed Wednesday as the number of South Korean trainee doctors to walk off the job over proposed reforms swelled, officials and local reports said.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un oversaw the test firing of a "new-type surface-to-sea missile", state media reported Thursday, part of a purported fresh drive to ramp up maritime border security.

North Korea fired multiple cruise missiles Wednesday, Seoul's military said, part of a string of weapons tests this year that have accompanied increasingly aggressive rhetoric from leader Kim Jong Un.

North Korea said on Monday it had developed a new control system for a multiple rocket launcher that would lead to a "qualitative change" in its defence capabilities.

North Korea's rubber-stamp parliament has voted to abolish laws on economic cooperation with the South, state media said Thursday, as relations between the two neighbours hit new lows.

North Korea fired multiple cruise missiles Friday, Seoul's military said, continuing a fresh streak of weapons testing as Kim Jong Un's regime ramps up what it calls "war preparations".

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol said Wednesday that the North's "irrational" regime was likely to carry out multiple provocations, including cyberattacks and drone intrusions, ahead of the South's April election.

North Korea initiated a fresh round of missile tests today, marking an expansion of its recent weapons trials, as reported by the military in Seoul. Analysts speculate that these weapons might be intended for use in Russia's conflict with Ukraine, according to AFP.

North Korea fired another round of cruise missiles on Tuesday, according to Seoul's military, extending a week-long flurry of tests that Pyongyang has said include a new generation of weapons.

South Korea's military "detected several unknown cruise missiles launched into the West Sea of North Korea around 07:00 (2200 GMT)", Seoul's Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement.

China's vice foreign minister met with North Korea's top diplomats in Pyongyang on Friday, state media said, as the nuclear-armed state has accelerated its weapons testing and threats toward Seoul in recent months.