North Korea fires flurry of short-range ballistic missiles

Seoul: North Korea fired multiple types of short range ballistic missiles yesterday, South Korea s military said, around a week after leader Kim Jong...

Seoul: North Korea fired multiple types of short-range ballistic missiles yesterday, South Korea’s military said, around a week after leader Kim Jong-un tested a new weapons system for his latest warship.

Seoul’s military said it had “detected the launch of various types of short-range ballistic missiles,” the Joint Chiefs of Staff said.

The missiles were “fired from the Wonsan area of North Korea into the East Sea between approximately 08.10 and 09.20 yesterday (from 2310 GMT Wednesday),” they added, referring to the body of water also known as the Sea of Japan.

The missiles flew up to about 800km before splashing down in waters to the east of the peninsula, the JCS said, adding it strongly condemned the North for a “clear act of provocation that poses a serious threat to peace and stability”.

“Our military, under the strong South Korea-US combined defence posture, is closely monitoring various North Korean activities to prevent any misjudgment (by the North),” it said in a statement.