North Korea has fired a number of missiles off its west coast on Friday. This development compounds fears already built up this week following the North's explusion of South Korean officials in Kaesong and some of the stern comments by the Seoul government.
North Korea launched multiple missiles into the West Sea at around 10:30 a.m. Friday morning, Korea time. A South Korean naval field officer said North Korea fired up to five missiles into its own waters in the West Sea near the North Korean capital of Pyongyang.
The official also said that the missile was the Styx version of ship-to-ship missiles made by the former Soviet Union. These short-range missiles were launched from North Korean speed boats. The official added North Korea is currently holding winter military training exercises, and the missile launches may be part of those drills.
The South Korean military said it is assessing the motive behind the missile launches. The military reportedly went on alert status recently after North Korea showed signs of preparing to launch short-range missiles along its western coastline.
For two days since Tuesday, the South Korean government and military reportedly dispatched patrol boats along the Northern Limit Line on the West Sea, which serves as a de facto maritime border separating the two Koreas.
Those patrol boats reportedly obtained intelligence data pointing to an impending North Korean missile launch.
South Korean naval officials said that the missiles North Korea was preparing for launch at that time were also Styx missiles.
It was not immediately clear whether the North Korean launches had any connection to the hawkish stance the South Korean government has taken toward North Korea since the inauguration of the Lee Myung-bak administration in February.
A North Korean Foreign Ministry spokesman issued a statement Friday, warning that the pressure from the U.S. and other countries on the communist country to abandon its nuclear program could seriously impact efforts to dismantle its nuclear facilities.
Arirang News
