SEOUL: North Korea fired two medium-range ballistic missiles (MRBM) into the East Sea on Sunday, the South Korean military said, the latest in a series of launches that raised tensions on the Korean Peninsula.
The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said that it detected the launches from the Tongchang-ri area, North Pyongan Province, between 11:13 a.m. and 12:05 p.m. The missiles, fired at steep angles, flew some 500 kilometers, it added.
The intelligence authorities of the South and the US are conducting an analysis for other details in a comprehensive consideration of the North's recent missile activities, Yonhap News Agency reported quoting the JCS.
Tongchang-ri is home to a major rocket launch site. There, the North conducted an "important" test on a "high-thrust solid-fuel" motor on Thursday to develop "another new-type strategic weapon system," according to its official Korean Central News Agency.
The latest saber-rattling came a month after the North fired an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) thought to be capable of reaching the whole of the continental US.
The JCS denounced the launches as an act of "significant provocation" that undermines peace and stability not only on the Korean Peninsula but also in the international community, and a "clear" breach of UN Security Council resolutions.
"We strongly condemned them and urge the North to immediately stop them," it said in a text message sent to reporters.
It added the South Korean military will maintain a solid readiness posture based on its capabilities to respond "overwhelmingly" to any North Korean provocations. National Security Adviser Kim Sung-han presided over a National Security Council (NSC) meeting at the presidential office in Seoul. "NSC officials took note of North Korea's test of solid fuel," deputy presidential spokesperson Lee Jae-myoung said. "They denounced the continued provocations by the Kim Jong-un regime in complete disregard of their people's suffering." (IANS)
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