SEOUL: North Korea fired two ballistic missiles into the East Sea, the South Korean military said Sunday, 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 am and 12.05 pm. It did not provide other details.
“While strengthening our monitoring and surveillance activities, our military is maintaining a full readiness posture in close cooperation with the United States,“ Yonhap news agency quoted the JCS as saying in a text message sent to reporters.
The launch came a month after the North fired an intercontinental ballistic missile thought to be capable of reaching the whole of the continental United States.
The previous day, the North commemorated the 11th anniversary of the death of Kim Jong Il, the former leader and father of current leader Kim Jong Un.
The latest saber-rattling could be Pyongyang’s reaction to last week’s passage of a United Nations resolution calling for global efforts to improve human rights conditions in the North, observers said.
This year, the North has fired more than 60 ballistic missiles, marking a single-year record. – Bernama
