North Korea launched several short-range ballistic missiles toward the East Sea on Monday, the South Korean military said.
The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said it detected the missile launches near Pyongyang between 7:44 a.m. and 8:22 a.m., which flew about 300 kilometres and fell into the East Sea. A senior military official reported:
North Korea fired at least three missiles, and their trajectories were similar to those of KN-24.
The KN-24 is a solid-fuel ballistic missile with a range of up to 410 kilometres and a payload of 400-500 kg.
The South Korean military said it immediately detected and tracked the missiles and passed the information to US and Japanese authorities, and a comprehensive analysis is underway. The JCS said:
We strongly condemn North Korea’s latest missile launch, which is a clear provocation that seriously threatens peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula.
The launch comes about a month after the North launched the new Padasuri-6 surface-to-sea cruise missile from its east coast on 14 February.
It is the second ballistic missile launch this year after the first, on 14 January, when the North test-fired a solid-fuel medium-range ballistic missile with a hypersonic warhead. Pyongyang has conducted five cruise missile tests this year, raising concerns about these weapons systems, which are more difficult to detect and shoot down.
A few days ago, Japan and the US completed annual Freedom Shield exercises aimed at strengthening deterrence against North Korea’s nuclear and missile threats.
North Korea has long denounced the allied military exercises as a rehearsal for an invasion of the country, but Seoul and Washington call their drills defensive in nature and reject such claims.
