North Korea fires flurry of missiles

North Korea fired “several unidentified projectiles” into waters east of the peninsula early Saturday, according to South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS).

At the risk of inflaming already tense relations with the United States and regional neighbors, the North launched the missiles from Gangwon Province around 06:49 (21.49 GMT), the JCS said in a statement carried by the local news agency, Yonhap.

As is customary, Seoul’s presidential office called a National Security Council meeting in response to the test.

The U.S. Pacific Command assessed that there were “three short-range ballistic missile launches,” which either failed in flight or exploded.

Pyongyang is barred from testing ballistic missiles, and was recently hit with strengthened United Nations Security Council sanctions for launching a pair of ICBMs (intercontinental ballistic missiles) last month.

Saturday, marked North Korea’s first provocation since threatening a “merciless” response to an ongoing military drill involving South Korean and American troops.

The North’s leader, Kim Jong-un, said earlier this month that he was monitoring the U.S. after suspending a plan to fire missiles in the direction of American forces based in Guam.