Seoul: North Korea launched 2 short-range ballistic missiles

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea fired two shortrange ballistic missiles off its east coast Wednesday in defiance of U.N. resolutions, South Korea’s military said, less than a week after Pyongyang’s first weapons tests in more than two months.

Observers say the launches were aimed at ramping up pressure on the United States to make concessions as the two countries are struggling to resume diplomacy on the North’s nuclear weapons program.

South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement the missiles were launched from the town of Wonsan, a regular launch site on the North’s eastern coast. It said both missiles were believed to have flown about 250 kilometers (155 miles) at a maximum altitude of 30 kilometers (19 miles) and that South Korean and U.S. militaries were trying to find more details of the launches.

“The North’s repeated missile launches are not helpful to an effort to ease tensions on the Korean Peninsula and we urge (North Korea) to stop this kind of behavior,” a Joint Chiefs of Staff statement said.

Six days earlier, North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles that Seoul officials say flew 600 kilometers (370 miles) before landing at sea.

U.N. Security Council resolutions ban North Korea from using ballistic technology in any weapons launches. But it’s unlikely that the nation, already under 11 rounds of U.N. sanctions, will be hit with fresh punitive measures. Past sanctions were imposed only when the North conducted long-range ballistic launches.

Japan’s Defense Minister Takeshi Iwaya told reporters Wednesday that the launched objects did not reach the Japanese exclusive economic zone and that officials are still analyzing details including the flight distance and trajectory. Referring to the previous launches, Iwaya said, “It is extremely regrettable that North Korea continues firing the missiles that violates the U.N. resolutions.”