South: N Korea Test-Fires 30 Missiles into Sea

Local Editor

North Korea test-fired 30 short-range missiles into the sea on Saturday, South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said.

"North Korea fired off 30 short-range missiles between 4:00 am and 6:10 am this morning from its east coast into the Sea of Japan ," said a spokesman for the Joint Chiefs.

The missiles are estimated to have flown about 60 kilometers, he added.

Analysts said the missiles had been launched from the same location as 25 projectiles on Sunday, near the eastern port of Wonsan. The projectiles were Soviet-era short range Frog missiles from the 1960s, they said.

It is not unusual for Pyongyang to carry out such tests but there has been a spate of them in recent weeks. Saturday's launch was the sixth in just over a month.
South Korea urged North Korea earlier this week to stop what it called "provocative" and potentially dangerous tests.

"The North should stop actions that cause military tension and unnerve its neighbors," Seoul's defense ministry spokesman Kim Min-Seok told reporters on Monday.

He further added: "Provocative action made without any prior notifications... can pose significant danger to sea vessels and aircraft passing by the area," he added.
"The North is likely to test-fire all the remaining Frog missiles in the near future", he added.

The annual South Korean-US military drills started in late February and will run until mid-April.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team