(Reuters)
SEOUL, April 8 – North Korea fired several ballistic missiles toward the sea off its east coast on Wednesday, South Korea’s military said, following a separate launch detected a day earlier as Pyongyang doused Seoul’s hopes of an easing in tensions.
South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said the unidentified missiles were launched at around 8:50 a.m. (2350 GMT Tuesday) from near Wonsan on the North’s east coast.
The missiles flew 240 km (149 miles), the JCS said, adding that South Korean and U.S. authorities were conducting a detailed analysis of the launch. South Korea’s military also said it had detected the launch of a suspected ballistic missile from near Pyongyang on Tuesday.
South Korea’s presidential Blue House convened an emergency National Security Council meeting on Wednesday, calling the launches a provocation that violated U.N. Security Council resolutions, according to the local media reports. It urged Pyongyang to end such tests.
According to South Korea’s Yonhap news agency, citing military officials, the projectile launched on Tuesday flew eastward before showing signs of an abnormality in the early stage of flight and disappearing.
The JCS also thought it was likely to be a ballistic missile, in what could amount to a failure after launch, Yonhap reported.
South Korea typically announces North Korean ballistic missile launches promptly, as such tests violate U.N. Security Council resolutions against the North’s ballistic missile programme.
North Korea rejects the U.N. ban and says it infringes its sovereign right to self-defence.
