SEOUL (AP) – North Korea fired three short-range ballistic missiles toward its eastern waters in its latest weapons display on Saturday, a day after rival South Korea conducted a rocket launch related to its push to build a space-based surveillance to better monitor the North.
South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement it detected the three launches from an inland area south of Pyongyang, the North’s capital, on Saturday morning.
It said the three missiles traveled about 350 kilometers (220 miles) before landing in the waters between the Korean Peninsula and Japan. The estimated range suggests the missiles tested could target South Korea.
Earlier this week, South Korea accused North Korea of flying five drones across the border for the first time in five years and responded by sending its own drones toward the North.
South Korea’s military on Monday scrambled warplanes and helicopters, but they failed to shoot down any of the North Korean drones before they flew back home or vanished from South Korean radar.
One of the North Korean drones traveled as far as northern Seoul, triggering security jitters among many people in the South.
Since taking office in May, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol’s government has expanded regular military drills with the U.S.
North Korea has called such drills an invasion rehearsal and argued its recent missile tests were its response.
Before Saturday’s launches, North Korea had already test-fired more than 70 missiles this year.
On Friday, South Korea test-launched a solid-fueled rocket, a type of a space launch vehicle that it plans to use to put its first spy satellite into orbit in coming years.
North Korea is also pushing to acquire its first military surveillance satellite. Earlier this month, it said it used two old missiles as space launch vehicles to test a camera and other systems needed for a spy satellite and later released satellite photos showing South Korean cities.