(2nd LD) N. Korea fires multiple missiles toward East Sea: JCS

(ATTN: UPDATES throughout with more details, additional info)
By Kim Hyun-soo

SEOUL, Nov. 4 (Yonhap) -- North Korea fired multiple missiles toward the East Sea on Wednesday, the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said, just days after it fired nearly a dozen short-range ballistic missiles.

The missiles were launched from the Sondok area in South Hamgyong Province early Wednesday, the JCS said, adding that further analysis of specifications was under way in coordination with the United States.

"Our military is monitoring the North's various movements under a robust South Korea-U.S. combined defense posture, and maintains the capabilities and readiness to respond overwhelmingly to any provocations," the JCS said in a notice to the press.

The missiles are believed to have flown less than 300 kilometers, with authorities analyzing specifications of the launched missiles while leaving open the possibility that it involved a close-range ballistic missile.

"It appears to be the Hwasong-11 Ra surface-to-surface tactical ballistic missile," Shin Jong-woo, secretary-general of the Seoul-based Korea Defense and Security Forum, told Yonhap News Agency.

If confirmed, it would mark the third time the North has launched a ballistic missile in just a week.

The North fired around a dozen short-range ballistic missiles toward the East Sea from the Wonsan area Thursday, less than a week after the South Korean military proposed military talks with Pyongyang over the inter-Korean border.

North Korean state media has reported that Pyongyang also tested a cluster bomb that can be mounted on tactical ballistic missiles Saturday. The South Korean military did not disclose its detection of the test.

Wednesday's launch comes as Kim Yo-jong, the powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, issued back-to-back statements this week countering the outcome of a U.S. investigation that blamed the North for the theft of more than US$6 billion in cryptocurrency from Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange.

In a statement carried by the North's official Korean Central News Agency earlier Wednesday, Kim denied her country's involvement in the cryptocurrency theft and said that while the country remains open to dialogue with the U.S. as an option for peace, it would not be necessary for its own interest.

The latest launch also coincided with the U.S. midterm elections under way, which are widely seen as a referendum on U.S. President Donald Trump halfway into his second term.

sookim@yna.co.kr
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