| This May 4 file photo from North Korea's state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) shows a rocket fired from a large-caliber long-range multiple rocket launcher. KCNA-Yonhap |
By Jung Da-min
North Korea launched two suspected missiles Thursday, five days after firing off multiple “projectiles” including its new tactical guided weapon, widely agreed by experts to be a short range ballistic missile (SRBM).
The launches took place at 4:29 p.m. and 4: 49 p.m., respectively, from around Kusong in North Pyongan Province and landed in the seas off its east coast, according to the Republic of Korea Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS).
The JCS said one flew about 270 kilometers and the other, 420 kilometers, both at an altitude of around 50 kilometers.
Cheong Wa Dae expressed concern over the launches, saying they did not help ease military tension on the peninsula.
President Moon Jae-in said they would be a violation of United Nations sanctions if the projectiles were identified as ballistic missiles ― even short-range ones ― in a special interview with public broadcaster KBS celebrating the two-year anniversary of his administration.
“The launches by North Korea today have been speculated to be those of short-range missiles,” Moon said, adding this was speculation by both South Korea and the United States.
“The United Nations Security Council Resolutions (UNSCR) regulate North Korea's middle- and long-range missiles and has not raised an issue when the North launched its short-range missiles. ...But the UNSCRs say that the North should not launch ballistic missiles.”
Meanwhile, Moon's National Security Adviser Chung Eui-yong was closely monitoring the situation via video conferencing with the JCS, Cheong Wa Dae spokeswoman Ko Min-jung said.
The JCS revised an initial report on the test, which said North Korea had fired an unidentified short-range projectile at 16:30 (KST) from Sino-ri in North Pyongan Province in an eastward direction. Sino-ri is about 40 kilometers south of Kusong.
The revision came hours after the initial report and the military said it was estimating the specific site of the launch.
Located 212 kilometers north of the DMZ, Sino-ri is known as an operational missile base that houses a regiment-sized unit equipped with Nodong-1 medium-range ballistic missiles (MRBMs).
The military has yet to define what the projectiles were.
“The allies have strengthened surveillance to maintain preparedness for any further launch by North Korea,” JCS spokesman Kim Joon-rak told reporters.
The launches coincided with the visit to Seoul of U.S. Special Representative for North Korea Stephen Biegun for a meeting with his counterpart, Special Representative for Korean Peninsula Peace and Security Affairs Lee Do-hoon, and the 11th Defense Trilateral Talks between South Korea, the U.S. and Japan.