North Korea fires multiple suspected cruise missiles: Seoul

SEOUL (HRNW) – North Korea on Tuesday fired several suspected cruise missiles towards the sea, the South’s military said.

The “multiple projectiles” fired from Munchon in the east of the country were believed to be “short-range cruise missiles,” the Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement.

The test comes a day before the nuclear-armed North marks the 108th anniversary of the birth of its founder Kim Il Sung, grandfather of the current leader Kim Jong Un.

It also comes a day before the South holds parliamentary elections, and at a time when the world’s attention has been largely focussed on the coronavirus pandemic, which Pyongyang insists it has so far escaped.

The North has repeatedly tested ballistic missiles in recent years, which climb high above the Earth, often into space, before being brought down towards their targets at high speed by the force of gravity.