North Korea fires 2 projectiles into sea days after weekend missile tests: Seoul

South Korea’s joint chiefs of staff say they suspect ‘both were ballistic missiles’

Thursday’s launch comes after Pyongyang fired two short-range, non-ballistic missiles in a westerly direction towards China at the weekend

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The nuclear-armed North has a long history of using weapons tests as provocations, in a carefully calibrated process to forward its objectives.. Photo: dpa

Published: 8:23am, 25 Mar 2021Updated: 4:46pm, 25 Mar 2021

North Korea fired two projectiles into the sea early on Thursday, the South’s military said, in what could be its first ballistic missile test during the administration of US President Joe Biden.

The missiles flew 450km and reached an apex of 60km before falling on the Sea of Japan, known as the East Sea in Korea, Seoul’s joint chiefs of staff said in a statement.

“The military has detected two short-range missiles, one launched at 7.06am and the other at 7.25am, from Hamju in South Hamgyong province toward the East Sea,” they said. “We are analysing the data, suspecting both were ballistic missiles.

The South’s presidential Blue House summoned an emergency meeting of the National Security Council (NSC), where attendants expressed “deep concerns” over the launch.

NSC members will investigate the motives of the latest launch in cooperation with the US and other countries, the Blue House said.

US Indo-Pacific Command spokesperson Captain Mike Kafka said the US military was aware of the missiles and was monitoring the situation while consulting with allies.

Another senior US official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss military observations, matched the information from South Korea’s military, saying that initial assessments suggested the North fired two short-range ballistic missiles.