North Korea launched multiple ballistic missiles off its east coast Thursday, the South Korean military has said.
According to a statement from South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, the projectiles are believed to be surface-to-ship missiles.
The South Korean military later added that the missiles flew more than 200 kilometers before falling into the East Sea.
“North Korea fired multiple unidentified projectiles, assumed to be surface-to-ship missiles, this morning from the vicinity of Wonsan, Gangwon Province,” the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said, according to the Yonhap news agency.
The launches come shortly after the newly elected South Korean government confirmed it would suspend further deployment of the US Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) antimissile system intended to protect the country from North Korea.
Although two previously-installed launchers of the THAAD system will remain deployed, four others will not be added until an environmental impact assessment is completed.
Thursday’s launch, which is the fourth missile test since Moon Jae-in became president, also comes less than one week after the United Nations Security Council passed new sanctions against the Kim regime.
This story is developing and will be updated as information becomes available.
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