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U.S. NEWSTuesday 22 March 2016

Seoul: North Korea fires 5 short-range projectiles

HYUNG-JIN KIM U.S. State Department’s Special Representative for North Korea Policy Ambassador Sung Kim, right, answers a reporter’s questions
Associated Press as Coordinator for Sanctions Policy Ambassador Daniel Fried, left, listens after finishing the high level sanctions meeting at the
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Foreign Ministry in Seoul, South Korea, Monday, March 21, 2016.
North Korea fired five short-
range projectiles into the Associated Press
sea on Monday, Seoul offi-
cials said, in a continuation tions on the country in two supervising landing and such armaments. He issued pable of reaching the U.S.
of weapon launches it has decades. defensive drills. The photos the orders while overseeing mainland.
carried out in apparent re- The U.S. special represen- showed artillery blazing, what state media called a Analysts in South Korea said
sponse to ongoing South tative for North Korean navy ships landing as shells successful simulated test of the medium-range mis-
Korea-U.S. military drills it policy, Sung Kim, who is fell nearby, and soldiers a re-entry vehicle aimed sile launch last Friday may
sees as a provocation. visiting Seoul, said Monday running with the national at returning a nuclear war- have been a test of the
The projectiles launched that North Korea “should flag. North Korea has a his- head to the atmosphere re-entry technology. North
from a site near the north- refrain from all provocative tory of photo manipulation from space so it could hit Korean state media have
eastern city of Hamhung actions, including missile and there was no way to its intended target. The re- not commented on the re-
flew about 200 kilometers tests, which are clearly in verify the authenticity of entry vehicle is considered ported launch.
(125 miles) before landing violation of Security Coun- the photos. one of the last major tech- South Korean defense of-
in waters off North Korea’s cil resolutions.” Last week, state media said nologies North Korea must ficials say North Korea
east coast, On Sunday, North Korean Kim ordered tests of a nu- master to develop long- doesn’t yet have function-
South Korea’s Joint Chiefs state TV broadcast pho- clear warhead and ballistic range missiles equipped ing intercontinental ballistic
of Staff said. tos of leader Kim Jong Un missiles capable of carrying with nuclear weapons ca- missiles.
The South Korean military
was attempting to deter-
mine whether the projec-
tiles were missiles, artillery
shells or rockets.
The firings came three days
after Seoul said North Ko-
rea launched its first me-
dium-range ballistic missile
into the sea since early
2014, ignoring U.N. resolu-
tions against such tests.
The firings appear to be
North Korea’s response
to annual springtime U.S.-
South Korean military ex-
ercises that it says are a
rehearsal for an invasion. In
the past two weeks North
Korea has fired several
short-range missiles and
artillery shells into the sea
and threatened pre-emp-
tive nuclear strikes against
Washington and Seoul.
This year’s drills are the larg-
est ever, and come after
North Korea conducted a
nuclear test and a long-
range rocket launch ear-
lier this year, leading the
U.N. Security Council to
impose its toughest sanc-