North fires two more short-range projectiles

North Korea fired two more short-range projectiles yesterday, following the four similar objects fired over the weekend, the South’s military said.

The first projectile was fired off the east coast between 11 a.m. and noon yesterday, and the other between 4 p.m. and 5 p.m. toward the sea northeast of the country, according to the South Korean military, seemingly from the same site as the previous launch.

“The projectiles that North Korea fired are assumed to be a version of the KN-02 surface-to-surface missiles with a range of 120 kilometers [74.5 miles],” an official of the South’s Ministry of National Defense told reporters yesterday. “The military is closely monitoring the movement of the North Korean Army over the possibility of further launches.”

According to the South’s Defense Ministry, the two projectiles were seemingly the same version.

North Korea fired three similar short-range projectiles on Saturday and one on Sunday off its east coast toward the northeast of the Korean Peninsula. The South assumes that based on the range of the projectiles, they could be a version of the KN-02 short-range guided missiles or other rockets from newly developed multiple launchers with a higher caliber - 300 millimeters (12 inches).

“It doesn’t matter if it is a test-fire or saber-rattling. They should not commit an act that creates tensions,” Kim Jang-soo, the chief of the National Security Council at the Blue House, was quoted as saying by presidential spokeswoman Kim Haing yesterday.

In response to criticism by Seoul and Washington over the launches, the North’s Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland said in a statement they were “normal military exercises.”

By Kim Hee-jin [heejin@joongang.co.kr]