North Korea has test-fired four more missiles off its eastern coast, days after similar launches sparked international concern, South Korean officials have said.
South Korea’s Yonhap news agency quoted a South Korean government official as saying the North had fired short-range missiles early on Saturday.
Al Jazeera’s Steven Chao, reporting from the South Korean capital, Seoul, said South Korea’s defence ministry has confirmed the missile launches.
“Government sources say it is believed these were short-range Scud missiles. [They were] fired off the east coast of North Korea, near the city of Wonsan,” he said.
‘Direct provocation’
North Korea test-fired four short-range anti-ship missiles from the same site on Thursday, triggering protests on Friday in Seoul, where anti-North Korean activists burned mock-up missiles and images of the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-il.
“This really will be seen as a provocation directed at South Korea, mainly because the Scud has a range of 500km, which basically could hit many major cities in the South,” our correspondent said.
“It’s seen as a direct provocation to the South Korean President Lee Myung Bak.”
In a statement, South Korea’s joint chiefs of staff said: “Our military is fully ready to counter any North Korean threats and provocations based on strong South Korea-US combined defence posture.”
North Korea’s state news agency carried no reports on the latest launches.
US forces in the region had been ready for the missile tests, Admiral Gary Roughead, the chief of US naval operations, said.
“Our ships and forces here are prepared for the tracking of the missiles and observing the activities that are going on,” Roughead said after meeting Japanese military officials in Tokyo on Saturday.
The Japanese government condemned the North’s action.
The launch “is a serious act of provocation against the security of neighbouring countries, including Japan, and is against the resolution of the UN Security Council”, Takeo Kawamura, the Japanese chief cabinet secretary, said in a statement.
The statement also urged North Korea to suspend all missile development activities.
North Korea had previously warned that it would conduct military drills on its eastern coast and had issued a no-sail zone in waters off its east coast through July 10.
“There’s been no question that over the last few days there’s been a lot of concern about how many tests North Korea would conduct in terms of missiles,” our correspondent said.
Seoul worried
“South Korea has already announced that it will increase its defence spending in the next few years, in terms of missile protection and nuclear protection and protection against a lot of other attacks from the North.
“There seems to be no mood at this point for some sort of reconciliation or diplomatic solution,” Chao said.
In April, North Korea launched a rocket that boosted its long-range missile capability followed by a nuclear test – the second since 2006 – on May 25 that put it closer to having a working atomic bomb.
Shortly after the atomic test, Pyongyang fired a total of six short-range missiles, renounced the truce in force on the Korean peninsula for half a century and threatened possible attacks on Seoul.
The UN last month approved tougher sanctions against North Korea following the May nuclear test, but the North responded by vowing to strengthen its nuclear arsenal.
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