KWANG-TAE KIM
SEOUL, July 4: North Korea fired seven ballistic missiles off its eastern coast on Saturday, South Korea said, a violation of UN resolutions and an apparent message of defiance to the US on its independence day.
The launches, which came two days after North Korea fired what were believed to be four short-range cruise missiles, will likely further escalate tensions in the region as the US tries to muster support for tough enforcement of the latest UN Security Council resolution imposed on the Communist regime for its May nuclear test. South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said three missiles were fired early on Saturday, a fourth around noon and three more in the afternoon. The defence ministry said that the missiles were ballistic and are believed to have flown more than 400 km.
"Our military is fully ready to counter any North Korean threats and provocations based on strong South Korea-US combined defence posture," the Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement. South Korea’s Yonhap news agency said the first three appeared to be Rodong missiles while the rest were an upgraded version of Scud-C missiles, citing intelligence authorities.
The defence ministry said it could not confirm the report, saying more analysis needs to be done. Scud-C missiles have a range of up to 500 km, which could hit most of South Korea.
The Rodong has a range of up to 1,300 km, putting most parts of Japan within striking distance. Yonhap said, however, that the range of the Rodong missiles launched on Saturday had been reduced.
UN resolutions ban North Korea from firing Scuds, medium-range missiles or long-range missiles. Among the UN measures is Resolution 1874, passed after North Korea’s May 25 nuclear test, that prohibits any launch using ballistic missile technology.
The Thursday’s missile launches, on the other hand, did not violate the resolution, according to South Korea’s foreign ministry. Kim Tae-woo, vice-president of the Korea Institute for Defence Analyses, said they were believed to be cruise missiles. Ballistic missiles are guided during their ascent out of the atmosphere but fall freely when they descend. Cruise missiles fly low and straight to their target.
The North has a record of timing its missile tests for US independence day, which fell on Saturday.
"The missiles were seen as part of military exercises, but North Korea also appe-ared to have sent a message to the US through the missile launches," a senior official in South Korea’s presidential office said, without elaborating. The official told the Associated Press that North Korea could fire more missiles in coming days, but said there was little possibility it could fire an intercontinental ballistic missile, as it threatened in April. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak to media.
Yonhap said North Korea was pulling out personnel from its missile launch site and was allowing ships to sail again in waters off its east coast, an indication no more missiles would be launched in the near future. Yonhap cited an unidentified military official.
The defence ministry said it could not confirm the report. The North had initially warned ships to stay away from its east coast through July 10 for military exercises. —AP
