North Korea fired two projectiles presumed to be short-range ballistic missiles into the East Sea on Saturday, ratcheting up tensions even after the end of a joint military exercise between the South and the United States, South Korea’s Yonhap news agency reported.
The projectiles were fired at 6.45 am and 7.02 am from the eastern town of Sondok in South Hamgyong Province into the East Sea, and both flew around 380 kilometres at a maximum altitude of 97 km and a top speed of around Mach 6.5, according to South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS).
"Our military is monitoring the situation in case of additional launches and maintaining a readiness posture," the JCS said in a release, adding the South Korean and the US intelligence authorities are analysing their exact type.
Saturday's firings marked the seventh round of such launches since July 25 when the North broke a 17-month hiatus and started firing missiles and projectiles to test new weapons and protest the South-US joint military exercise that it has long denounced as a rehearsal for invasion.
The exercise concluded earlier this week, raising hope for a halt in the North's missile launches and a resumption of denuclearisation talks between Washington and Pyongyang.
The last missile firing came about a week ago on Aug 16. The North is believed to use these launches to test new types of short-range missiles, including its versions of the Iskander and the US' Army Tactical Missile System
