South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement it detected several ballistic missile launches from North Korea's capital region around 7:50 a.m. It stated that the missiles flew approximately 560 miles and that South Korean and U.S. authorities were analyzing the details of the launches.

Sunday's launches came hours before South Korean President Lee Jae Myung departed for China for a summit with President Xi Jinping, for talks expected to cover North Korea's nuclear programme.View on

Lee’s visit is positive sign for China-South Korea relations. But both sides must heed the lessons from the THAAD dispute.