北, 동해로 단거리미사일 수발 발사…한미 UFG연습 반발 추정
We start with another provocation by North Korea...
The regime fired three short-range ballistic missiles into the East Sea in the early hours of this morning.
It's the first time Pyongyang has lobbed missiles into the sea in weeks, but it sends another message to the international community that North Korea has no intention of scaling back its weapons programs.
Kwon Jang-ho with the details.
At 6:49 A.M. South Korea time, the first of three missile launches were detected.
And then two more were fired within the next half an hour.
According to South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff, they were fired from Gitdaeryong in the eastern part of Gangwon-do Province, flying some 250 kilometers into the East Sea.
The U.S. Pacific Command also said its initial assessment indicates three short-range ballistic missiles were fired.
However, the second is said to have exploded shortly after launch.
The North American Aerospace Defense Command, or NORAD, confirmed that the missiles did not pose a threat to North America.
President Moon Jae-in was said to have immediately been informed of the launch, and a National Security Council meeting was convened to formulate a response.
The launches are being interpreted as a protest against the joint South Korea-U.S. military drills, called the Ulchi Freedom Guardian, which began this week.
Pyongyang labels the exercises as a provocative rehearsal for an invasion, while South Korea and the U.S. insist they are purely defensive in nature.
The North's latest missile provocation comes after two successful ICBM launches last month.
Since then, new UN sanctions have been imposed, and a war of words between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un escalated, with the U.S. territory of Guam threatened and the international community on edge.
However, after weeks of no missile activity from North Korea, the United States had started to express hope that perhaps the regime was starting to back down.
On Tuesday, U.S. Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson, said he was pleased to see the regime had demonstrated some level of restraint, while President Trump said he respected that Kim Jong-un was starting to respect the U.S.
Today's launch could be seen as a rejection of that claim.
Kwon Jang-ho, Arirang News.
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