North Korea just fired 5 short-range missiles

(Baonghean.vn) - Seoul officials said North Korea had just conducted a test firing of five short-range projectiles at sea on Monday, March 21, local time, as a provocative act after South Korea and the United States held joint military exercises.

The projectiles were launched from a site near the northeastern city of Hamhung with a range of about 200 km (125 miles) before landing in waters off North Korea's east coast, the US Joint Chiefs of Staff in South Korea said.

A man watches North Korea's missile launches on a TV screen (Photo: AP)

The incident came three days after North Korea launched a medium-range ballistic missile into the sea on March 18 in defiance of the toughest UN sanctions in 20 years over Pyongyang's nuclear and missile programs. The US said it was a preemptive strike against Washington and Seoul.

The US special representative for the Korean Peninsula, Sung Kim, said on Monday, March 21, that North Korea "should avoid all provocative actions, including missile tests, that violate Security Council resolutions."

Last week, North Korea’s state-run Korean Central News Agency reported that leader Kim Jong Un had ordered the testing of a nuclear warhead and a ballistic missile capable of carrying the weapon. He personally oversaw the test of a missile that carried a nuclear warhead to its intended target and then returned. The test is considered one of North Korea’s biggest technological advances in developing a long-range nuclear-armed missile capable of hitting the United States.

Analysts in South Korea said Friday's missile launch by North Korea could be a test of the advanced technology. The Korean Central News Agency did not comment on the launch.

Currently, South Korean defense officials believe that North Korea has not yet developed intercontinental ballistic missile projects.

Thanh Hien

(According to ABC News)