N. Korea fires two short-range ballistic missiles into East Sea: JCS
SEOUL. KAZINFORM - North Korea fired two projectiles believed to be short-range ballistic missiles into the East Sea on Tuesday, South Korea's military said, in an apparent show of force against the ongoing joint military exercise between Seoul and Washington, Yonhap reports.
The projectiles were fired at 5:24a.m. and 5:36 a.m. from North Korea's southwestern county of Kwail in SouthHwanghae Province, and both flew around 450 kilometers across the peninsulabefore splashing into the East Sea, the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said.
Their maximum altitude was about 37km, and the top speed was around Mach 6.9, according to the JCS.
«South Korean and U.S.intelligence authorities believe that these short-range missiles bear similarflight features to the ballistic missiles North Korea test-fired on July25,» the JCS said, adding that analysis is underway to determine theirexact type.
«Our military is monitoringthe situation in case of additional launches and maintaining a readinessposture,» the JCS noted.
The presidential office Cheong WaDae held an emergency meeting to discuss the latest launch, according to itsspokesperson Ko Min-jung.
In Washington, a senior U.S.official said it is continuing to monitor the situation and is consultingclosely with its allies regarding the matter.
It is the fourth such launch in less than two weeks.On Friday, North Korea fired two short-range projectiles into the East Sea,just two days after it launched two short-range ballistic missiles, accordingto the JCS. On July 25, Pyongyang also fired two rounds of a new type ofballistic missile, resuming its weapons testing after around 77 days.
The South Korean and the U.S.authorities believe that the North test-fired a new type of short-rangeballistic missiles, known as its version of Russia's Iskander, in recent weeks.But Pyongyang has claimed that what it fired on Wednesday and Friday was a«newly-developed large-caliber multiple launch guided rocket system.»
U.N. Security Council resolutionsban North Korea from launching ballistic missiles of any kind.
Tuesday's firing came a day afterSouth Korea and the United States began their combined military exercise asscheduled despite North Korea's warnings against it.
The «crisis management stafftraining» kicked off Monday as a preliminary session in the runup to theirsummertime command post exercise, according to military sources.
The exercise, which is expected tocontinue for about three weeks, is meant to test South Korea's initialoperational capability (IOC) for the envisioned transfer of the wartimeoperational control from Washington to Seoul, they added.
Issuing a statement right after thefiring Tuesday, North Korea's foreign ministry said it could seek «a newroad,» other than engagement, calling the joint exercise a violation of aseries of joint agreements they signed with the North.
«The U.S. and south Koreanauthorities remain outwardly talkative about dialogue.
But when they sit back, they sharpen a sword to do usharm,» the ministry said, according to the North's Korean Central NewsAgency in an English dispatch.
«If the U.S and south Koreanauthorities trust to luck, disregarding our repeated warnings, we will makethem pay heavy price which will in turn make them very much difficult,» itadded