North Korea fired two ballistic missiles on Monday, the South Korean military reported, the latest in a series of tests by Pyongyang that have infuriated Seoul.
A first short-range projectile was launched early in the morning, then a second unidentified one was detected 10 minutes later, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement. “Our military has increased surveillance and vigilance in preparation for further launches,” the same source said, adding that it had transmitted information about the incidents to the United States and Japan.
The launches come days after North Korea claimed to have successfully tested a multiple-warhead missile, with South Korea saying the projectile exploded in flight.
Relations between the two Koreas are currently at their lowest in years, with Pyongyang stepping up weapons testing and sending balloons filled with trash toward the South in retaliation for South Korea’s propaganda campaigns against the North Korean regime.
At the end of June, Seoul, Tokyo and Washington conducted three days of joint military exercises, denounced on Sunday by Pyongyang, which called them the “Asian version of NATO”, warning of “fatal consequences”.
North Korea systematically criticizes this type of military maneuvers which it considers to be rehearsals before an invasion of its territory. For its part, South Korea affirmed on Sunday that these were only regular defensive exercises.
