N. Korea fires 2 unidentified projectiles into East Sea: JCS
The projectiles were firedfrom its eastern coastal county of Tongchon in Kangwon Province earlier in theday, according to the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS). No other details wereimmediately known, including their type, flight range and maximum altitude.
«Our military ismonitoring the situation in case of additional launches while maintaining areadiness posture,» the JCS said in a brief release.
Friday's launch came six daysafter North Korea fired two projectiles believed to be short-range ballisticmissiles into the East Sea. It was the sixth such launch since July 25 when itfired two newly developed short-range missiles codenamed KN-23.
The latest launch followedharsh rhetoric against South Korea earlier in the day.
The North's Committee for thePeaceful Reunification of the Country issued a statement in which it lashed outat President Moon Jae-in for his address a day earlier marking Liberation Dayfrom Japan's colonial rule, claiming that his usage of such terms as«worrisome acts» and «provocation» by North Korea is«reckless.»
Pyongyang also denounced SouthKorea's ongoing joint military exercise with the U.S. and the recentannouncement of its five-year defense plan, all of which «are aimed atdestroying» the North, adding that, «We have nothing to talk any morewith the South Korean authorities nor have any idea to sit with themagain.»
North Korea has repeatedlyissued warnings against the combined military exercise between South Korea andthe U.S., threatening that it would seek «a new way» rather thanengagement if Seoul goes ahead with such a rehearsal for invasion.
In a letter to U.S. PresidentDonald Trump last week, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un also voiced hisdispleasure with the joint military exercises.
Expressing his «smallapology for testing the short-range missiles,» Kim told Trump that suchsaber-rattling would stop when the exercises end, according to Trump.
Saying that such drills aredefensive in nature, Seoul and Washington said that the ongoing exercise thatkicked off in earnest on Monday for a 10-day program is meant to test SouthKorea's operational capabilities for the conditions-based transition of wartimeoperational control of combined forces from Washington to Seoul.