North Korea fires short-range missiles

North Korea fires short-range missiles, North Korea test-fired five short-range missiles off its east coast on Monday and banned ships from the area from October 10-20, a South Korean official said.

The official, speaking to AFP on condition of anonymity, confirmed a Yonhap news agency report of the launches from south of Musudan-ri on the northeast coast.

The Joint Chiefs of Staff refused to comment. Yonhap said the “no-sail” zone covered both the east and west coasts.

The agency quoted military experts as saying the launches appear to be part of regular military exercises. But they did not rule out the possibility that Pyongyang is demonstrating its firepower for political purposes.

The communist state has frequently launched short-range missiles off its east and west coasts in recent years.

South Korean defence officials describe these as part of military exercises but the launches are sometimes timed to make a political point.

Washington has said it is ready for bilateral talks, but merely to persuade the North to return to the multilateral forum. It has not set a date for any meeting.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said: ‘The United States and its allies were trying to demonstrate to North Korea that the international community would not accept its continuing nuclear programme.

Hillary Clinton,speaking in Belfast, said: ‘Our goals remain the same. We intend to work toward a nuclear free Korean peninsula.’

On 2 July North Korea fired four short-range missiles believed to be surface-to-ship types.

North Korea was criticised by the UN when seven longer-range ballistic missiles were fired on 4 July.