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| S. Korea Says North Launches Short-Range Missiles | |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea launched three short-range guided missiles into the sea off its east coast on Saturday, the South Korean Defense Ministry said. | SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea launched three short-range guided missiles into the sea off its east coast on Saturday, the South Korean Defense Ministry said. |
| Two missiles were launched in the morning, followed by another in the afternoon, said Kim Min-seok, a ministry spokesman. | Two missiles were launched in the morning, followed by another in the afternoon, said Kim Min-seok, a ministry spokesman. |
| “We remain vigilant and prepared in case the launching of these missiles might be followed by a military provocation by the North,” Mr. Kim said. | “We remain vigilant and prepared in case the launching of these missiles might be followed by a military provocation by the North,” Mr. Kim said. |
| Tests of short-range missiles by North Korea are fairly routine. The last such tests were reported in March. | |
| Tensions have been high on the Korean Peninsula since the North’s launching of a three-stage rocket in December and its third nuclear test in February. The United Nations Security Council responded by tightening sanctions against Pyongyang, which drastically escalated its usual bellicose rhetoric, threatening nuclear strikes. | |
| Officials in the region have been watching for North Korean missile tests since South Korea detected mobile launch vehicles deployed on the North’s east coast early last month. The vehicles carried intermediate-range missiles known as Musudan, which have never been tested and are believed to be the closest the North has to a missile capable of striking American bases on the Pacific island of Guam, as Pyongyang has threatened to do. | |
| The missiles launched on Saturday did not include a Musudan, officials here said. | |
| Tensions on the peninsula appear to have decreased in recent weeks, since the United States and South Korea completed their major annual military drills at the end of last month. The drills had angered the North. | |
| Earlier this month, American officials said that North Korea had withdrawn the Musudan mobile launch vehicles, triggering speculation that Pyongyang wanted to de-escalate tensions or, perhaps, was moving the missiles out of view of spy satellites. | |
| Glyn T. Davies, Washington’s top envoy on North Korea, this week completed a trip to Seoul, Beijing and Tokyo, where he discussed how to deal with the North’s nuclear and missile threats. |