North Korea fires short-range ballistic missiles toward East Sea: JCS

A television screen shows a file image of North Korea's missile launch during a news program at Seoul Station in Jung District, central Seoul, on Thursday. [AP/YONHAP]

 
North Korea fired several short-range ballistic missiles (SRBMs) into the East Sea on Thursday, the first ballistic missile launch since July 1 this year.
 
The South Korean military detected several SRBMs fired into the East Sea from the Pyongyang area at around 7:10 a.m. Thursday, according to Seoul’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS).
 
The JCS is currently analyzing detailed specifications of the SRBMs, including the missile model and flight distance.
 
“The military is maintaining a full readiness posture while closely sharing information related to North Korean ballistic missiles with the U.S. and Japanese authorities while strengthening surveillance and vigilance in preparation for additional launches,” said the JCS.
 

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Japanese authorities presumed that the North Korean missiles landed in the sea outside of their country’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).
 
This is the first time North Korea has fired a ballistic missile since July 1 this year, 73 days ago.
 
North Korea announced that it had fired a tactical ballistic missile equipped with a newly developed high-weight warhead on July 1 and announced additional test launches, but did not conduct additional launches until now.
 
Previously, the North Korean military had sent trash-laden balloons to the South for five consecutive days from Wednesday to Monday.
 
During this period, it was identified that North Korea had launched about 1,300 trash balloons, and more than 400 of them fell into the South, causing fires that were presumed to have been caused by balloon-mounted devices.a
 

BY LIM JEONG-WON [lim.jeongwon@joongang.co.kr]