NORTH KOREA'S MISSILE LAUNCH

[Anchor Lead]

North Korea launched two rockets believed to be short-range missiles from the Wonsan area early this morning. The last time the Communist regime launched a similar projectile was 77 days ago. The South Korean Presidential Office said that it's closely monitoring the situation, and that related authorities are analyzing the details of the missiles.

[Pkg]

North Korea launched two projectiles believed to be short-range missiles toward the East Sea between 5:30 and six AM this morning. The Joint Chiefs of Staff announced that the regime fired two unidentified projectiles at 5:34 AM and 5:57 AM this morning from the Hodo Peninsula in the Wonsan area of Gangwon-do Province to the East Sea. The JCS tentatively concluded that the projectiles reached the altitude of roughly 50 kilometers and flew about 430 kilometers. Judging by the distance traveled, the rockets appear to be similar to the North Korean version of the Iskander short-range missile fired in May. The Joint Chiefs of Staff said the projectiles appear to be short-range missiles and added, South Korean and American intel agencies are analyzing detailed specifications. Seoul's military is closely monitoring the situation for additional rocket launches and maintaining its readiness. The last time Pyongyang launched projectiles assumed to be short-range missiles was around two and half month ago. The communist state fired short-range missiles toward the East Sea on May 4th and 9th. At the time, the regime had the mass media, such as Rodong Sinmun and Korea Central TV, widely report the launch. At the surprise summit with the U.S. at Panmunjeom on June 30th, North Korea had promised to resume working level meetings with Washington within two to three weeks. However, Pyongyang hasn't made any move to reopen the working negotiations. Instead, North Korea seemed focused more on strongly opposing the Seoul-Washington joint military exercises in an attempt to associate the drills with the working meetings. The rocket launches earlier today appear to be related to this tactic. Meanwhile, the Joint Chiefs of Staff is trying to figure out North Korea's intention, and exactly what type of projectiles have been launched.