(2nd LD) N. Korea fires around 10 short-range ballistic missiles into East Sea: JCS

North Korea fired around 10 short-range ballistic missiles into the East Sea on Thursday, the South Korean military said, a day after sending hundreds of large balloons carrying trash and manure into the South.The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said the missiles were fired from Pyongyang's Sunan area at 6:14 a.m. and flew about 350 kilometers before hitting the East Sea. That suggests the missiles could have been fired from KN-25 super-large multiple rocket launchers.Though the North has used missile launches as a message to the outside world, it is unusual for it to fire a barrage of some 10 missiles at one time.The South Korean military condemned the launches, which put the Seoul metropolitan area and key air bases within range, as a "provocative act" that threatens the Korean Peninsula and vowed a stern response to the North's provocations.This April 23, 2024, footage from North Korea's Korean Central Television shows the North firing super-large multiple rocket launchers. (For Use Only in the Republi c of Korea. No Redistribution) (Yonhap)"Our military has strengthened monitoring and vigilance against additional launches, while closely sharing information related to North Korean ballistic missiles with the U.S. and Japanese authorities," the JCS said in a text message to reporters.The missile launches came after the North sent hundreds of large balloons carrying trash and fecal matter to the South on Tuesday and Wednesday after warning of a "tit-for-tat action" against anti-Pyongyang leaflets sent by activists in South Korea.The firings also came after the North failed in an attempt to launch a second military spy satellite Monday as the space rocket carrying the satellite exploded during the first-stage flight shortly after liftoff.The latest launches mark Pyongyang's first ballistic missile launch since May 17, when it test-fired tactical ballistic missiles equipped with what it called a new "autonomous" navigation system, considered to be short-range ballistic missiles.Source: Yonhap News Ag ency