DPRK fires 30 more short-range missiles amid S. Korea-US military drills

Source:Xinhua Published: 2014-3-22 11:15:30

The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) fired off a total of 30 more short-range missiles Saturday morning amid the continued joint military exercises between South Korea and the United States.

The DPRK launched 30 short-range rockets, possibly the FROG surface-to-surface missiles, from 4 a.m. to 6:10 a.m. local time, according to the Joint Chiefs of Staff cited by local media.

Those rockets, which flew around 60 km, were fired from Wonsan areas in the DPRK's southeastern coast toward the eastern open waters.

The launch came six days after Pyongyang fired off 25 FROG missiles, which were introduced by the DPRK from the Soviet Union from the 1960s.

In what appeared to be a protest against the joint annual military exercises by South Korea and the United States, the DPRK has fired off multiple short-range missiles and artillery shells in recent weeks, which Seoul called an armed protest and a show of force.

The "Key Resolve" command post exercise, which began on Feb. 24, ended on March 6, but the "Foal Eagle" field training exercise will last until April 18 despite the DPRK's earlier call for delay or cancellation of the drills, which Pyongyang has denounced as the rehearsal for a northward invasion.

The DPRK said on March 5 that its recent short-range missile launches were "successful normal training" within its own territory.

Posted in: Asia-Pacific, Latest News

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