North Korea fired multiple unidentified projectiles off its east coast Wednesday, the South Korean military told Yonhap news agency. The move comes less than one week after North Korea fired two short-range missiles in what state-run media said was a “solemn warning” to “South Korean military warmongers.”
A U.S. official told CBS News the missile is similar to the launch six days ago. South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff told Yonhap said Wednesday’s launch was also two short-range ballistic missiles.
The projectiles were launched from Hodo peninsula in South Hamgyong Province, South Korean officials told Yonhap. It said South Korea’s military is monitoring for possible additional launches by North Korea.
South Korean officials said last week’s missile launch were a new type of a short-range ballistic missile. It was the first launch by North Korea since Kim Jong Un and President Trump met at the Demilitarized Zone in June and Mr. Trump made a historic trip into North Korea. Mr. Trump told Fox News last week that he is “getting along well” with Kim and the country “really haven’t tested missiles other than smaller ones.”
The launches last week were a violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions that ban North Korea from engaging in any launch using ballistic technology. While the North could face international condemnation over the latest launches, however, it’s unlikely that the nation, already under 11 rounds of U.N. sanctions, will be hit with fresh punitive measures. The U.N. council has typically imposed new sanctions only when the North conducted long-range ballistic launches.
North Korea’s state media said last week’s missile tests, supervised by Kim, were designed to deliver “solemn warning” to South Korea over its purchase of high-tech U.S.-made fighter jets and its plans to conduct military drills that Pyongyang sees as an invasion rehearsal. The North’s state media report avoided a direct criticism of the United States.
South Korea’s military said the flight data of the weapon launched last week showed similarities to the Russian-made Iskander, a short-range, nuclear-capable missile. A North Korean version could likely reach all of South Korea — and the 28,500 U.S. forces stationed there — and would be extremely hard to intercept.
Ramy Inocencio contributed to this report.
