North Korea fires three projectiles, South Korean military says
North Korea fired three unidentified projectiles into the East Sea on Monday, South Korea’s Yonhap news agency reported, citing the Joint Chiefs of Staff of Seoul’s military.
The missiles were fired from a location near the town of Sondok in the east of North Korea, Yonhap said.
Further information on the type of missiles and their flight range and altitude were not immediately available. The South Korean military said it was monitoring the situation in case of further launches.
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It comes just a week after Pyongyang fired two missiles, described by Japan as ballistic missiles, into the East Sea, also known as the Sea of Japan.
It marked a return to missile testing for North Korea after a three-month pause.
The rogue nuclear nation is banned from testing ballistic missiles by UN resolutions, and has been slapped with tough international sanctions to deter it from continuing to develop rockets that could be equipped with nuclear warheads.
Global concerns over North Korea intensified late in 2019 after Pyongyang imposed a year-end deadline for the United States to offer sanctions relief and threatened to send a “Christmas gift,” widely interpreted to mean a weapons test, if their demands were not met.
North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un said the world would see a “new strategic weapon” from the country in the near future, in a message on January 1. (dpa)
