TOKYO (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 10th August, 2019) South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) believe that the projectiles fired by North Korea on Saturday might have been short-range ballistic missiles, the Yonhap news agency reported.
According to the outlet, North Korea launched the missiles off its eastern coast at 05:32 a.m. and 5:50 a.m. on Saturday (20:32 and 20:50 GMT on Friday). The projectiles were fired from the city of Hamhung and both traveled around 400 kilometers (249 miles) at a maximum altitude of 48 kilometers before falling into the Sea of Japan. According to the reports, citing the JCS, the projectiles reached the maximum speed of Mach 6.1.
"We see high chances of additional launches, as North Korea is now carrying out summertime drills and the combined exercise between South Korea and the U.S. is underway," the JCS said, as quoted by Yonhap.
The JCS suggested that the launches could have been held in response to the joint US-South Korean military drills.
Saturday's launches are the fifth round of launch of projectiles by North Korea over the past two weeks. Both South Korea and the United States believe that Pyongyang has recently been testing short-range missiles, while North Korea said it had tested new multiple rocket launchers. Notably, the UN Security Council has banned North Korea from developing its ballistic missile program.
The tests come amid an escalation of tensions on the Korean Peninsula. While North Korea has been opposing the annual US-South Korean drills. On Thursday, Pyongyang warned that South Korea would pay a price for holding them.
On Friday, US President Donald Trump, who is engaged in denuclearization talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, said he had received a letter from Kim, in which the North Korean leader said he was not happy with the US-South Korean exercise.
