北, 동해로 미상 발사체 2회 발사... 한미훈련에 반발 대화엔 여지

North Korea has fired yet more missiles - its fourth round of launches in less than two weeks.
This time it fired them from the western side of the Peninsula.
At the same time, the regime is criticizing the joint military drills by South Korea and the U.S. that started yesterday.
Kim Ji-yeon reports.
South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said North Korea launched the two short-range missiles in the early hours of
Tuesday... towards the East Sea... at around 5:24 AM and 5:36 AM, Korea time, from its southwestern county of Kwail in
Hwanghaenam-do Province.
The missiles had an altitude of around 37 kilometers... and flew some 450 kilometers... recording a maximum flight speed of Mach 6-point-9... that's around eight-thousand-five hundred kilometers an hour.
The Joint Chiefs of Staff said the missiles seem to have similar characteristics to the short-range ballistic missiles fired by the North on July 25th... and said they are working with the U.S. to verify further information about the missiles... while monitoring the situation for additional launches.
The Joint Chiefs of Staff believe the North test-fired a new type of short-range ballistic missile, North Korea's version of Russia's Iskander-class missile.
It's believed that they're harder to intercept due to its complicated flight trajectory... although the Joint Chiefs of Staff made reassurances that they're able to neutralize the missiles by North Korea with the existing Patriot anti-missile system.
Tuesday's launch came a day after South Korea and the U.S. began their combined military exercise.
The "crisis management staff training" kicked off on Monday as a preliminary session in the run-up to their summertime command post exercise... which is expected to start this Sunday and continue for about three weeks.
The drill is aimed at testing South Korea's initial operational capability for the envisioned transfer of wartime operational control from Washington to Seoul.
Issuing a statement right after the firing on Tuesday, North Korea's foreign ministry criticized the South for conducting exercises which it says are simulations of "pre-emptive" strikes against Pyeongyang.
It also criticized the U.S. for supplying new weapons including the F-35A fighter jets to the South.
"The North said it still seeks dialogue as means to resolve issues but that the continuation of provocative military acts would harm the momentum of dialogue... calling the joint exercise a violation of the series of joint agreements it signed with the South.
Kim Ji-yeon, Arirang News."