North Korea fired shots from multiple rocket launchers, says South Korea

SEOUL

North Korea fired four suspected shots from multiple rocket launchers into the Yellow Sea, South Korea’s military said on Sunday.

The shots were fired at around 7:20 a.m. (2220GMT on Saturday) from “an unspecified location in South Pyongan Province,” Yonhap News Agency quoted South Korean officials as saying.

The development comes at a time of simmering tensions in the region, particularly due to a series of missile tests by North Korea this year, including that of a newly developed hypersonic missile.

Pyongyang fired another ballistic missile this past Wednesday, which South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said was “botched as it failed to reach a certain altitude in its early boost phase.”

South Korea’s National Security Council (NSC) held an emergency meeting on Sunday where officials “stressed the need to maintain a firm defense readiness posture,” read the Yonhap report.

Earlier this month, North Korea fired an apparent ballistic missile that flew roughly 270 kilometers (168 miles) at a height of 550 kilometers (342 miles), according to the South Korean military.

Last week, South Korean officials claimed that North Korea has begun restoring tunnels at a nuclear site that were closed in 2018.

That came after North Korean leader Kim Jong Un threatened in January that Pyongyang will consider resuming “all temporally suspended” defense activities to bolster defenses against the US, referring to a self-imposed moratorium since 2017 on testing nuclear weapons and long-range missiles.

Kim also announced last week that North Korea will launch a number of reconnaissance satellites “to keep a close eye on” military actions by the US and its allies in the region.

His remarks came a day after South Korea elected Yoon Suk-yeol as its new president, who has signaled he will be tougher on Pyongyang and vowed to strengthen Seoul’s strategic alliance with Washington.