N. KOREA FIRES MORE BALLISTIC MISSILES

[Anchor Lead]

The Joint Chiefs of Staff announced that North Korea fired this morning two short-range ballistic missiles into the East Sea. North Korea has fired its sixth missile in the past 12 days.

[Pkg]

On Thursday, the Joint Chiefs of Staff announced that North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles into the East Sea. They were launched at 6:01 a.m. and 6:23 a.m. from the Samsok district in Pyongyang. The first missile flew for some 350 kilometers at an altitude of roughly 80 kilometers at around Mach 5. The second one's range was about 800 kilometers, altitude 60 kilometers and speed around Mach 6. The first missile is likely to be a KN-25 ballistic missile, called a super rocket launcher by the North, and the second one a KN-23, the North Korean version of the Iskander missile. JCS chair Kim Seung-kyum convened a meeting with the U.S. immediately after the missile launches and confirmed the allies' solid joint defense posture. The South Korean military upped its surveillance and alertness on North Korea and maintained readiness for all possible contingencies. Pyongyang has fired six missiles in 12 days. That comes to one launch every two days. On October 4th, the regime fired an intermediate-range ballistic missile from the Mupyong-ri area of Jagang-do Province toward the east over northern Japan. This is the ninth ballistic missile launch since the Yoon Suk-yeol administration was inaugurated. The latest provocation appears to be in protest of the deployment of the USS Ronald Reagan in international waters near the Korean Peninsula. North Korea's foreign ministry announced through its press release early Thursday morning that the regime is closely watching how the U.S. is gravely threatening the political stability of the Korean Peninsula and surrounding regions by again mobilizing an aircraft carrier.