SEOUL, March 14 (AJP) - North Korea launched more than 10 ballistic missiles toward the East Sea on Saturday, South Korea’s military said.
“Our military detected more than 10 unidentified ballistic missiles launched toward the East Sea from the Sunan area near Pyongyang today at around 1:20 p.m.,” the JCS said in a statement.
The military said it is analyzing the projectile’s specifications and flight range while strengthening surveillance and vigilance against additional launches and closely sharing related information with the United States and Japan.
Pyongyang previously fired a ballistic missile toward the East Sea on Jan. 27. If the latest launch is confirmed to be a ballistic missile, it would mark the country’s first such launch in 47 days and its third this year.
The launch came a day after U.S. President Donald Trump signaled openness to dialogue with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.
During a meeting with South Korean Prime Minister Kim Min-seok at the White House on Friday, Trump reportedly said he maintains “a good relationship” with Kim and asked whether the North Korean leader still wants to engage in talks with the United States and with him personally.
Since returning to the White House in January last year, Trump has repeatedly expressed willingness to resume dialogue with Pyongyang.
However, North Korea appeared to respond to Trump’s overture with a show of force just a day later.
The launch is also seen as a protest against the ongoing South Korea-U.S. joint military exercise Freedom Shield (FS), which began on March 9 and runs through March 19.
The allies have reduced the number of field training exercises (FTX) to less than half compared with last year during this year’s FS drills, a theater-level combined exercise designed to prepare for potential contingencies on the Korean Peninsula.
Despite the reduction, North Korea has continued to denounce the drills as a “rehearsal for invasion.”
Kim Yo-jong, vice department director of the ruling Workers’ Party of Korea, issued a statement a day after the drills began, warning that the hostile forces’ military demonstrations near what she called the country’s sovereign security zone could lead to “horrific consequences.”
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