North Korea launched more unidentified short-range projectiles into its eastern sea on Friday, August 2, South Korean military officials said in a statement. This is the third time within a span of eight days the country has carried out a missile launch, according to reports.
Two short-ranged projectiles were fired early Friday from Yonghung, South Hamgyong Province into the East Sea, the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) told Yonhap news agency.
"We are monitoring the situation in case of additional launches and maintaining a readiness posture," the Joint Chiefs said, reported Bloomberg
Japan has said the launches have not threatened its national security as it didn't enter its exclusive economic zone.
Last week, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un personally watched the testing of two short-range ballistic missiles. The projectile flew 600 kilometres and as high as 50 kilometres before landing in the sea. The launch had increased tensions in the Korean peninsula.
On Wednesday, it conducted the test of a new multiple rocket launcher. The JCS assessed the military activity and said the missiles flew about 250 kilometres. It is reported that the range is enough to cover the South Korean capital and a major US military base in Yongsan District's Seoul.
The increasing aggression projected by North Korea is seen as a warning against South Korea importing weapons including the latest F-35 stealth fighters and conducting joint military drills with the US. Experts have claimed the launches could intensify in the coming months if nuclear negotiations do not restart.
"Not worried"
The missile tests raise doubts about the revival of denuclearisation talks, which stalled after the collapse of a second summit between Kim and Trump in Hanoi in February.
"We cannot but develop nonstop super-powerful weapon systems to remove the potential and direct threats to the security of our country that exist in the south," Kim said.
Diplomatic relations have soured since Pyongyang demanded Seoul to abandon Washington and proceed to conduct joint economic projects that have strained due to the US-imposed sanctions on North Korea.
However, US President Donald Trump said on Thursday that he was not worried about missiles being tested by North Korea, calling the weapons very standard, short-range devices.
Trump said that the North Korean leader has kept his pledge not to detonate nuclear bombs or test larger missiles that could deliver them to the US mainland, reported Bloomberg.
"I think it's very much under control," Trump told reporters on Thursday. "Very much under control."
The Trump administration remains ready to resume talks with North Korea said US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Thursday at the ongoing ASEAN regional security forum in Bangkok.
