北, 단거리 탄도미사일 추정 발사체 2회 발사... '알섬' 명중 시험한 듯<br /><br />We begin with yet another test firing of projectiles by North Korea.<br />The regime launched what are believed to be two ballistic missiles into the East Sea earlier today.<br />This marks the sixth round of launches in just three weeks and came shortly after Pyeongyang again lashed out at Seoul over its joint military drills with the U.S.<br />Kim Ji-yeon reports.<br />South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said North Korea fired what it presumes to be two short-range ballistic missiles into the East Sea at around 8:01 and 8:16 Friday morning.<br />They were fired from North Korea's eastern coastal county of Tongcheon in the North's Kangwon-do Province, recording a maximum altitude of some 30 kilometers, with a flight distance of some 230 kilometers... and maximum speed of more than Mach 6-point-1... which is some 7-thousand-466 kilometers per hour.<br />The South Korean military is monitoring the situation while maintaining a readiness posture,... and it's working closely with the U.S. to verify more details about Friday's firing.<br />"The latest launch is a response to the joint summertime training by the South Korean and U.S. militaries... but a military source said earlier that the recent launches may have been planned long ago... and the North is using the drills as an excuse to continue their launches."<br />A military source confirmed that Friday's test-fire is being deemed a successful launch as the missiles hit an uninhabited island called "Al-sum" or 'rocket target' in Korean... which is near the missile base of Gitdaeryong that stores short-range scud missiles and medium-range Nodong that could be used in real combat.<br />Back in August 2017, North Korea had test fired three short-range projectiles in the vicinity of Gitdaeryong near Tongcheon county... during the South Korea-U.S. joint military exercise, the Ulchi Freedom Guardian.<br />The latest provocation comes amid North Korea's continued criticism over the South Korea-U.S. joint "Combined Command Post Training" despite it being scaled-down from previous versions.<br />The training will continue until next Tuesday, August 20th,... and involves computer-based war simulations to verify South Korea's state of readiness for the envisioned transfer of wartime operational control from Washington to Seoul.<br />This year, real military equipment and troops have not being mobilized.<br />Kim Ji-yeon, Arirang News.<br />
