N. Korea conducts sixth launch of projectiles towards East Sea in three weeks
- 5 years ago
North Korea fired yet more projectiles into the East Sea this morning.
It's the regime's second launch in six days and... the sixth in three weeks.
Our Defense Ministry correspondent Kim Ji-yeon is on the line.
Ji-yeon, have we received any major updates within the past couple of hours?
Ji-yoon, South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff has confirmed North Korea fired two unidentified short-range missiles into the East Sea at around 8:01 and 8:16AM this morning.
They were fired from North Korea's eastern coastal county of Tongchon of the North's Kangwon-do Province, recording a maximum altitude of some 30 kilometers, with a flight distance of some 230 kilometers... and maximum speedh of more than 6-point-1... which is some 7-thousand-466 kilometers an hour.
The JCS said the South Korean military is monitoring the situation in case of additional launches, while maintaining a readiness posture... and it's working closely with the U.S. to verify more about the recent launch.
As you mentioned today's firing is the sixth such launch in around three weeks.
According to Seoul's Joint Chiefs of Staff, the missiles were mostly short-range and ballistic... and were fired in the early hours... in a northeasterly direction toward the East Sea... all flying at altitudes of under 50 kilometers.
The JCS believes the North test-fired a new type of short-range ballistic missile, North Korea's version of Russia's Iskander-class missile... aimed at targeting a specific location.
These missiles are believed to be harder to intercept due to their complicated flight trajectory.
There's also North Korea's so-called "new tactical weapon"... which is believed to have similar characteristics to the U.S. Army's surface-to-surface tactical missile system, known as ATACCMS... in that they can scatter hundreds of sub-munitions during the final dive phase into an area of four soccer fields simultaneously... with the aim of inflicting maximum damage.
The Joint Chiefs of Staff has made reassurances that it's able to neutralize any missiles fired by the North with its existing Patriot anti-missile system... based upon its own simulations.
Without knowing further details about this latest launch, it may be too early to speculate, but do we have any idea why the North has decided to launch more projectiles at this time?
Local media outlets say it's a response to the joint summertime training by the South Korean and U.S. militaries... but a military source had told me earlier that the recent launches may have been planned long ago... and the North is using the drills as an excuse to continue their launches.
The same source also said it may be a way to alienate Seoul from North Korea's denuclearization talks with Washington.
This morning, North Korea slammed South Korea, saying it has "no thought" of ever sitting down with Seoul again... and mocked President Moon's speech made on the Korea's Liberation Day on Thursday.
North Korea's state-run Korean Central News Agency posted a statement
It's the regime's second launch in six days and... the sixth in three weeks.
Our Defense Ministry correspondent Kim Ji-yeon is on the line.
Ji-yeon, have we received any major updates within the past couple of hours?
Ji-yoon, South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff has confirmed North Korea fired two unidentified short-range missiles into the East Sea at around 8:01 and 8:16AM this morning.
They were fired from North Korea's eastern coastal county of Tongchon of the North's Kangwon-do Province, recording a maximum altitude of some 30 kilometers, with a flight distance of some 230 kilometers... and maximum speedh of more than 6-point-1... which is some 7-thousand-466 kilometers an hour.
The JCS said the South Korean military is monitoring the situation in case of additional launches, while maintaining a readiness posture... and it's working closely with the U.S. to verify more about the recent launch.
As you mentioned today's firing is the sixth such launch in around three weeks.
According to Seoul's Joint Chiefs of Staff, the missiles were mostly short-range and ballistic... and were fired in the early hours... in a northeasterly direction toward the East Sea... all flying at altitudes of under 50 kilometers.
The JCS believes the North test-fired a new type of short-range ballistic missile, North Korea's version of Russia's Iskander-class missile... aimed at targeting a specific location.
These missiles are believed to be harder to intercept due to their complicated flight trajectory.
There's also North Korea's so-called "new tactical weapon"... which is believed to have similar characteristics to the U.S. Army's surface-to-surface tactical missile system, known as ATACCMS... in that they can scatter hundreds of sub-munitions during the final dive phase into an area of four soccer fields simultaneously... with the aim of inflicting maximum damage.
The Joint Chiefs of Staff has made reassurances that it's able to neutralize any missiles fired by the North with its existing Patriot anti-missile system... based upon its own simulations.
Without knowing further details about this latest launch, it may be too early to speculate, but do we have any idea why the North has decided to launch more projectiles at this time?
Local media outlets say it's a response to the joint summertime training by the South Korean and U.S. militaries... but a military source had told me earlier that the recent launches may have been planned long ago... and the North is using the drills as an excuse to continue their launches.
The same source also said it may be a way to alienate Seoul from North Korea's denuclearization talks with Washington.
This morning, North Korea slammed South Korea, saying it has "no thought" of ever sitting down with Seoul again... and mocked President Moon's speech made on the Korea's Liberation Day on Thursday.
North Korea's state-run Korean Central News Agency posted a statement