北, 원산에서 동해상으로 단거리 탄도 미사일 두발 발사
North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles off its east coast earlier today,... the second such launch in a week.
And the South Korean military has shared more of its findings about today's launch.
For more, we connect to our Kim Ji-yeon at Seoul's defense ministry.
Ji-yeon, the latest launch seems to be similar to last week's launch by the North?
That's right, Devin.
Just like last Thursday, the missiles fired this morning are both short-range and ballistic... and were fired from North Korea's eastern city of Wonsan in the early hours... in a northeasterly direction, which is towards the East Sea.
An official from South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said the missiles, like the last time, are presumed to have been launched from the ground using a transporter erector launcher,... which is used to move missiles to a desired launch location.
That means the missiles are not bound to a fixed launch site and the North's movements are therefore harder to predict.
The military is still verifying where the missiles landed... and said that it regards today's and last week's launch to be in the test-firing phase... and not fully operational.
What's starkly different this time though is the flight distance and altitude.
Today's launches flew a much shorter distance than last week's.... flying some 250 kilometers and reaching an altitude of around 30 kilometers... which is lower than the 50 kilometers recorded last week. This may signify that the North is trying to find ways to evade the existing Patriot missile system which normally intercept targets at altitudes of around 40 kilometers.
The military said it's monitoring North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's movements... but didn't state where he was at the time of launch... unlike last week when the military said he "could have" been at the Wonsan area.
It says it's currently working with the U.S. to analyze the missiles further... including their trajectory... and said the military bears in mind that today's launches could be similar to last week's.
It's monitoring the situation while maintaining a defense posture in case of additional launches.
To fill you in about last Thursday's firings...
The military confirmed last week that the two missiles both flew some 600 kilometers and were both similar to Russia's Iskander-class ballistic missile system... which is known to be able to move away from its original trajectory to change its target or avoid being shot down.
But the military also said it's capable of intercepting them with the existing Patriot anti-missile system.
While we wait to find out more about today's launch, can you tell us more about the Iskander-class ballistic missile system and why many of us here in South Korea are concerned about it?
A ballistic missile, which flies in an arc... is considered more lethal than say, a cruise missile, a guided missile that remains in the atmosphere and travels the majority of its flight path at a relatively constant
