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DPRK launches 25 more short-range missiles

Xinhua, March 17, 2014

• The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) fired off a total of 25 more short-range missiles toward eastern waters Sunday evening, local media reported citing the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

  The DPRK launched 10 projectiles for 10 minutes from 6:20 p.m. local time, before firing off eight projectiles for five minutes from 8:03 p.m. and seven more projectiles for four minutes from 9: 28 p.m., according to the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

  Those projectiles were believed to be short-range missiles, possibly the FROG surface-to-surface missiles, as they have a range of around 70 km, according to military officials. The DPRK was known to have introduced the FROG missiles from the Soviet Union from the 1960s.

  Those missiles were fired from Wonsan areas in the DPRK's southeastern coast toward the eastern open waters.

  The launches came 12 days after Pyongyang fired off seven projectiles, possibly artillery shells fired from the DPRK's new multiple rocket launcher termed by the South Korean military as KN- 09.

  In what appeared to be a protest against the joint annual military exercises by South Korea and the United States, the DPRK fired off multiple short-range missiles and artillery shells from Feb. 21 to March 4, which Seoul called as an armed protest and a show of force.

  The "Key Resolve" command post exercise, which began on Feb. 24, ended on March 6, but the "Foal Eagle" field training exercise will last until April 18 despite the DPRK's earlier call for delay or cancellation of the drills, which Pyongyang has denounced as the rehearsal for a northward invasion.

  The DPRK said on March 5 that its recent short-range missile launches were "successful normal training" within its own territory.

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