North Korea launches barrage of short-range ballistic missiles towards sea
Al Jazeera
South Korea’s military said ‘several’ ballistic missiles were launched by North Korea in its latest display of advanced weaponry.
North Korea has launched a salvo of ballistic missiles towards the sea off the east coast of the Korean Peninsula, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) report.
The JCS initially said it detected the launch of a ballistic missile towards the East Sea (which is also known as the Sea of Japan) but later reported that several short-range missiles were fired by Pyongyang at about 07:30am local time (22:30 GMT) on Tuesday.
The Japanese government also confirmed the launch of a suspected ballistic missile from North Korea. Japan’s coastguard reported that a projectile had splashed down in the sea in an area that the NHK news outlet reported was outside the country’s maritime exclusive economic zone.
North Korea last week test-fired a huge new solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) towards the sea off its eastern coastline. North Korean state news said the testt launch on October 31 was of a Hwasong-19 ICBM, describing the new missile as “the world’s strongest ICBM”.
South Korea’s Minister of National Defense Kim Yong-hyun had warned that North Korea would likely dial up military displays around the United States presidential election – which is due to start shortly – to get the attention of Washington and “exaggerate their existence” through a display of force such as the test launch of intercontinental missiles or another nuclear test.
