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| North Korea's state media said on Sunday that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un personally directed a rocket test launch ahead of the 61st anniversary of the signing of an armistice that ended the Korean War (1950-53), which fell on Sunday. While the Rodong Shinmun did not indicate when and where the launch took place, South Korean officials linked the report with North Korea's firing of a short-range ballistic missile into the East Sea on Saturday. /Yonhap |
North Korea fired a short-range missile into the East Sea on Saturday, South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said, the latest in a series of its missile and rocket firings in recent weeks.
The North "fired a short-range missile presumed to be a Scud type into the East Sea in northeastern direction from Jangsan Cape on the western coastal region at 9:40 p.m.," the JCS said in a statement.
The Jangsan Cape is located just north of the Northern Limit Line (NLL), a de facto sea border between the two Koreas, and some 100 kilometers away from the military demarcation line, according to the JCS.
The missile range is estimated at 500 kilometers, it said, adding Pyongyang did not impose a no-fly, no-sail zone ahead of the launch.
"We are analyzing the motive of its missile launch, and we have maintained high-level readiness against its possible additional firing," the JCS said.
Saturday's firing is the 15th time that the North has launched rockets this year, and sixth ballistic missile launch in 2014.
"Our military sees the launch by North Korea, conducted while expressing its will to participate in the upcoming Incheon Asian Games, as part of its traditional dual strategy of engagement and pressure," the JCS said. "We cannot but doubt its sincerity in claiming that it expects national reconciliation."
The communist country has said it is planning to send athletes as well as a cheering squad to the games slated for September in South Korea's western coastal city of Incheon.
The North's repeated missile launches from June was condemned by the international community, with the United Nations defining the launches as violations of Security Council resolutions and urging it to stop such provocations.
NK leader inspected rocket drill
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un guided a rocket firing drill pointed at U.S. forces based in South Korea on Saturday, a day before the 61st anniversary of the Armistice Agreement that ended the 1950-53 Korean War, Pyongyang's state media said Sunday.
The North's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said Kim guided a drill staged by the strategic force, without elaborating on the exact time and place.
"He examined a firing plan mapped out in consideration of the present location of the U.S. imperialist aggressor forces' bases in South Korea and under the simulated conditions of the battle to strike and destroy them before guiding the drill," the KCNA said in an English dispatch.
The South Korean military said the North fired a short-range missile into the East Sea Saturday evening, the latest in a series of its missile and rocket firings in recent weeks.
The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said the North is believed to have fired a Scud-type missile with an estimated range of 500 kilometers from Jangsan Cape on its western coastal region, located just north of the tensely guarded western maritime border.
Saturday's firing is the 15th rocket launch, and the sixth ballistic missile launch, by the North this year, which the international community condemned as a violation of the United Nations Security Council resolutions.
The communist regime claimed it has fired several rocket firing drills recently to develop its "rocket science and technology and firing methods."
During the drill inspection, Kim said the U.S.' harsh hostile policy toward Pyongyang has not changed at all, warning "whoever dares challenge" is bound to meet "a final ruin," the KCNA said.
Despite its continuing weapons tests, North Korea also has sent mixed signals by announcing a plan to athletes and a cheering squad to the Asian Games to be held in South Korea next month.
Seoul has kept a cautious eye on the North's overture and military provocations, urging the North to first demonstrate its sincere attitude toward its nuclear disarmament.
About 28,500 American forces are stationed in South Korea to deter North Korean aggression as two Koreas still remain at a war as the Korean War ended in a truce. (Yonhap)
