North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles toward the East Sea (Sea of Japan) on Thursday, Seoul’s military said, according to Yonhap News Agency. The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said it detected the launches from the Sunan area in Pyongyang between 7:25 p.m. (1025 GMT) and 7:37 p.m., and the missiles flew some 780 km each before splashing into the water.
“The intelligence authorities of South Korea and the US are conducting a comprehensive assessment regarding (the missiles’) specifics and the possibility of additional provocations,” the JCS was quoted as saying. “In close coordination with the US, our military will maintain a firm readiness posture based on its capabilities to respond overwhelmingly to any provocations,” it said.
South Korea and the US ended the fifth and last round of the Combined Joint Live-Fire Exercise, the first of its kind in six years, in Pocheon, just 25 km south of the inter-Korean border, on Thursday to mark the 70th anniversary of the bilateral alliance.
Earlier in the day, the North’s Defense Ministry issued a statement accusing the allies of escalating tensions, saying the drills warrant its “inevitable” response. “Our army strongly denounces the provocative and irresponsible moves of the puppet military authorities escalating the military tension in the region despite its repeated warnings and warns them solemnly,” the ministry said in the statement carried by the North’s official Korean Central News Agency. “Our armed forces will fully counter any form of demonstrative moves and provocation of the enemies,” it added.
On May 31, the North fired what it claimed to be a satellite-carrying rocket, but it crashed into the sea due to the abnormal starting of the second-stage engine, according to the North’s state media.
Source: Kuwait News Agency