NKorea fires projectiles in 3rd weapons test in 8 days
SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea fired unidentified projectiles twice Friday into the sea off its eastern coast in its third round of weapons tests in just over a week, South Korea’s military said.
The increased testing activity is seen as brinkmanship aimed at increasing pressure on Seoul and Washington over the stalled nuclear negotiations. North Korea also has expressed frustration at planned U.S.-South Korea military exercises, and experts say its weapons displays could intensify in the coming months if progress on the nuclear negotiations isn’t made.
By test-firing weapons that directly threaten South Korea but not the U.S. mainland or its Pacific territories, North Korea also appears to be dialing up pressure on Seoul and testing how far Washington will tolerate its bellicosity without actually causing the nuclear negotiations to collapse, analysts say.
Seoul’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said the launches were conducted at 2:59 a.m. and 3:23 a.m. from an eastern coastal area but did not immediately confirm how many projectiles were fired or how far they flew. An official from the JCS, who didn’t want to be named, citing office rules, said more analysis would be required to determine whether the projectiles were ballistic missiles or rocket artillery.
South Korea’s presidential office said chief national security adviser Chung Eui-yong held an emergency meeting with government ministers to discuss the latest launch. Kim Eunhan, a spokesman for South Korea’s Unification Ministry, said the Seoul government expressed “deep regret” over the launches that it believes could negatively affect efforts to stabilize peace on the Korean Peninsula.
Japan’s Defense Ministry said it was analyzing the launch and that the projectiles did not reach Japanese territorial waters or its exclusive economic zone.
The North fired short-range ballistic missiles on July 25 and conducted what it described as a test firing of a new multiple rocket launcher system on Wednesday.