North Korea fires several cruise missiles into East Sea: South Korean military

It's an all to regular occurrence these days... North Korea has fired more missiles into the East Sea. South Korea's military is currently analyzing the launches. Kim Hyun-bin reports North Korea fired several missiles from its east coast Thursday morning which flew some 200 kilometers before coming down in the East Sea. South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff says these were surface-to-ship cruise missiles... launched from a base near the city of Wonsan in Gangwon-do Province. "This launch is seen as an armed protest by the regime to show off the accuracy of its anti-ship missiles to warn the U.S. carrier strike group in the region. Also, the regime could be trying to gain leverage against the U.S. and South Korea." . The JCS added that the South Korean military has beefed up surveillance and readiness for possible additional provocations. It is suspected that the missile launched this morning was of a type first revealed during a parade for the regime's late founder Kim Il-Sung's 105th birthday in mid-April. After the launch was detected, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff directly contacted President Moon Jae-in. This marks the fifth round of missile firings from the North since the new liberal administration took office in early May, and comes even as President Moon pushes to improve inter-Korean relations. Just last week the regime fired a enhanced scud-type ballistic missile which can apparently target both ships and ground targets. Washington has also expressed concerns about the North's missile capability, especially its intercontinental ballistic missiles, which the regime claims can reach the west coast of the United States. So far, all of the missiles newly revealed in April's military parade have been test fired except for the ICBM, which experts say could be fired in the near future. Kim Hyun-bin, Arirang News.