NORTH KOREA FIRES MISSILES INTO JAPAN SEAS
North Korea today Monday fired five short-range projectiles into waters off the
country's east coast in an apparent rebuke of joint military
exercises underway between the United States and South Korea.
The
projectiles were launched from a site near the northeastern city of
Hamhung and flew about 125 miles before landing in waters off North
Korea’s east coast, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said.
It was not
immediately clear if the projectiles were missiles or artillery fire.
US State Department spokesman John Kirby has called on North Korea to "refrain from actions that further raise tensions in
the region and focus instead on taking concrete steps toward fulfilling
its international commitments and obligations,"
South
Korea and the United States were scheduled for talks today Monday on
implementing new sanctions imposed on the North over its nuclear test in
January and long-range rocket launch last month. Pyongyang has
repeatedly issued nuclear strike threats against both Seoul and
Washington.
Analyst BJ Kim from Seoul's Hankuk University told Al
Jazeera that Pyongyang was taking a hard line in preparation for
possible talks with the West.
"At this point, from the North
Korean perspective it makes perfect sense to look tough," he said. "This
is very predictable behavior that we've been seeing."
On Friday, North Korea fired a medium-range missile into Japan Sea. The country has fired several short-range missiles off its east
coast since the U.N. imposed broad sanctions in response to its nuclear
and missile tests
Kirby said the U.S. is closely monitoring the situation on the Korean Peninsula
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