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N. Korea's projectiles likely short-range ballistic missiles: Seoul

TOKYO, Aug 28 (KUNA) -- South Korea's military said Monday what North Korea fired on the weekend were likely short-range ballistic missiles, Yonhap News Agency reported.
The North launched three projectiles into the East Sea (Sea of Japan) from an eastern region on Saturday morning, a month after the firing of another intercontinental ballistic missile, according to South Korean and US defense authorities.
"Chances are high that they were short-range ballistic missiles," a senior official at the South's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) told reporters in Seoul, citing the allies' joint evaluation so far. Pyongyang has kept mum on its Saturday rocket launches. The country's artillery firing is regarded usually as part of a routine military exercise, while the launch of ballistic missiles are clearly a strategic provocation. The North is prohibited from carrying out any launch using ballistic missile technology under several UN Security Council resolutions against the regime. The JCS official stressed that, "For our military, it's a provocation whether it's a ballistic missile firing or an artillery rocket launch." Among the three missiles fired on Sunday, the first and the third flew more than 250 km with an apogee of some 50km. The second one blew up almost immediately. (end) mk.tg