Report: North Korea launches short-range missiles

    North Korea launched three short-range guided missiles into the sea
off the Korean Peninsula's east coast Saturday, South Korea's semi-official
news agency Yonhap cited the South Korean Defense Ministry as saying.
The ministry said it had detected two launches in the morning, followed by
another in the afternoon, Yonhap reported.
The missiles were fired in a northeasterly direction, away from South Korean
waters, the ministry said.
South Korea has beefed up monitoring on North Korea and is maintaining a
high-level of readiness to deal with any risky developments, the ministry added,
according to Yonhap.
According to the Arms Control Association, a U.S.-based organization, short-
range guided missiles are generally classified as those traveling less than 1,000
kilometers (about 620 miles.)
Tensions in the region have eased in recent days since a fraught
period last month that included near daily North Korean threats of
war.
U.S. and South Korean officials feared at that time that Kim Jong
Un's regime was planning to carry out a test launch of longer-
range ballistic missiles, believed to be Musudans. The South Korean
government says they have a maximum range of 3,500 kilometers
(2,175 miles).
Andrew Salmon, a journalist and author based in the South Korean
capital, Seoul, said North Korea's reported launch of short-range
missiles Saturday should not cause the same degree of concern as
the launch of a satellite or medium-range Musudan rocket.
"It's a short-range tactical weapon. If any other country launched
this kind of weapon, it's a routine test, nobody would be too
worried. It's really simply because it's North Korea doing this that it
raises concerns," he said.
The situation is much less tense in the region than it was last
month, Salmon said.
"The North Koreans have significantly de-escalated their bellicosity
and their rhetoric since the end of April," he said. "The South
Korean government, I suspect, will not be strongly condemnatory
of this test because right now they are very, very keen to get the
North Koreans to the negotiating table."
The recent tensions flared after the North's long-range rocket launch in
December and underground nuclear test in February, both of which were
widely condemned.
Pyongyang's fiery rhetoric intensified in March as the U.N. Security Council
voted to tighten sanctions on the regime following the nuclear test.
Annual U.S.-South Korean military drills in South Korea also fueled the North's
anger, especially when the United States carried out displays of strength that
included nuclear-capable B2 stealth bombers.
North Korea is demanding recognition as a nuclear power, something the
United States refuses to countenance.
Last month's crisis resulted in the closure of the Kaesong Industrial Complex,
the last major symbol of inter-Korean cooperation.