N. KOREA FIRES CRUISE MISSILES

[Anchor Lead]

North Korea's military provocations continue as the U.S.-South Korea joint military exercises come to a close. South Korean military Tuesday detected four cruise missiles fired from Hamhung, Hanmkyongnam-do Province, into the East Sea.

[Pkg]

North Korea, which has been firing missiles in succession to protest the Seoul-Washington joint military drills, launched cruise missiles on Wednesday. The JCS said Wednesday it had detected four cruise missiles fired from Hamhung, Hanmkyongnam-do Province, into the East Sea at 10:15 a.m. The missiles are known to have been fired from the Hungnam coast. Their exact model and flying distance are being analyzed. The provocation comes three days after Pyongyang fired short-range ballistic missiles from Dongchang-ri, Pyonganbuk-do Province, on March 19. Cruise missiles are slower than ballistic ones, but they are harder to detect, as they fly at lower altitude and can easily change direction. The South Korean military presumes the projectiles flew for over two hours and could be the long-range strategic cruise missiles known as the North Korean version of Tomahawk missiles. The latest provocation is also an expression of protest against the South Korea-U.S. combined military exercises, which end on Thursday. Pyongyang has expressed its protest by firing short- and long-range missiles four times since the start of the exercises on March 13.

[Soundbite] Shin Jong-woo(Defense Security Forum) : "N. Korea apparently wants to show off its ability to fire multiple weapons at once in protest of the joint military exercises."

The JCS has vowed to finish the ongoing exercises successfully while maintaining strong defense readiness, and carry out intensive live-fire drills as well.