SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea fired two
short-range Scud missiles into its eastern waters Sunday, a South Korean
official said, in an apparent test just days after the country tested
what it called new precision-guided missiles.
A South Korean
military official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, citing
department rules, said the missiles were fired from Wonsan and are
presumed to be short-range Scud ballistic missiles. The official added
that the military is determining what kind of Scud missiles the
projectiles were. South Korean media quoted officials as saying the
missiles are presumed to be Scud-C missiles, the same as ones fired in
March.
North Korea fired the missiles without designating no-sail
zones, which the South Korean military views as provocative.
North
Korea regularly test-fires missiles and artillery, both to refine its
weapons and to express its anger over various developments in Seoul and
Washington. North Korea has in recent days criticized alleged South
Korean artillery firing drills near a disputed maritime boundary in the
Yellow Sea that has been the scene of several bloody skirmishes between
the rival nations in recent years. The missile displays also come days
before the leader of North Korea’s only major ally, Chinese President Xi
Jinping, is set to meet with South Korean President Park Geun-hye.
Seoul and Beijing have long pressed North Korea to abandon its nuclear
weapons ambitions.
North Korea said Friday that leader Kim Jong Un
guided test launches of a newly developed precision-guided missiles, in
a likely reference to three short-range projectiles South Korean
officials say the North fired a day earlier.
It’s not possible to
tell if this assertion about the new missiles is an exaggeration,
something North Korea has frequently done in the past when trumpeting
its military capability, analysts say. Its army is one of the world’s
largest but is believed to be badly supplied and forced to use outdated
equipment.
Still, the impoverished North devotes much of its
scarce resources to missile and nuclear programs that threaten South
Korea, Japan and tens of thousands of U.S. troops in the region. Outside
analysts say North Korea has developed a handful of crude nuclear
devices and is working toward building a warhead small enough to mount
on a long-range missile, although most experts say that goal may take
years to achieve.
After a brief period of warming ties earlier
this year, animosity has risen on the Korean Peninsula. North Korea has
in recent months threatened South Korea’s president, calling her a
prostitute, and the South has vowed to hit North Korea hard if provoked.
Pyongyang conducted a series of missile and artillery tests earlier
this year in response to annual U.S.-South Korean military exercises it
says it considers preparations for an invasion. North Korea also
test-fired two medium-range ballistic missiles and exchanged artillery
fire with South Korea near the disputed boundary in the Yellow Sea.
On Thursday, North Korea’s army accused South Korea of firing shells into the North’s waters near the sea
boundary.
Both
Koreas routinely conduct artillery drills near the maritime boundary. A
North Korean artillery attack in 2010 killed four South Koreans on a
front-line Yellow Sea island.
The Korean Peninsula is still
technically in a state of war because the 1950-53 Korean War ended with
an armistice and not a peace treaty.
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