Seoul: N. Korea fires multiple short-range ballistic missiles into sea

North Korea fired multiple short-range ballistic missiles toward the East Sea (Sea of Japan) on Thursday, Seoul's military said, Yonhap News Agency reported. The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said in a press release it detected the missiles fired off from the Pyongyang area at 7:10 a.m. (2210 Wednesday GMT), which flew around 360 km and landed in the East Sea. The JCS did not provide any further details, such as the number of missiles fired. "While closely monitoring North Korea's various activities under a firm combined defense posture between the South Korea and the US, we will maintain overwhelming capabilities and posture to respond to any provocation," the JCS said. The latest launches came after the North said last week that the South and the US will have to pay a "dear price" for what it called "provocative war" drills after the two countries carried out the joint summertime exercise Ulchi Freedom Shield in August. The North has long denounced joint military drills between the South and the US as r ehearsals for an invasion and used them as a pretext for provocations. On July 1, the North fired two ballistic missiles. One of them was short-range, while the other failed and fell inland. Source: Kuwait News Agency