North Korea ’s recent missile launch may be a test of upgraded exports to Russia , observers say, as the war in Ukraine gives Pyongyang opportunities to improve its weapons. A South Korean military official said further analysis was needed to determine its type. It stressed that South Korea was maintaining the capabilities and readiness to respond overwhelmingly to any provocation. A North Korean flag flies in the North’s Kijong village on the Western border with South Korea, as seen from an observatory in Paju, South Korea, on Wednesday. Photo: Yonhap/EPAThe latest launch came six days after North Korea fired what the South Korean military identified as a short-range ballistic missile towards the Sea of Japan.