ROK sees DPRK-fired projectiles as short-range missiles

SEOUL - The Republic of Korea (ROK)'s military saw the projectiles fired by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) on Thursday as short-range missiles, Newsis news agency reported Friday citing a defense ministry official.

The defense ministry official told local reporters that ROK and the United States jointly saw the projectiles as short-range missiles "until now," saying the intelligence authorities of the two countries were precisely analyzing them.

The DPRK launched two unidentified projectiles from an area in its northwestern region Thursday afternoon. They traveled eastward about 420 km and 270 km at an altitude of 45-50 km.

It came five days after Pyongyang fired several short-range projectiles into the sea off its east coast. The projectiles flew between 70 km and 240 km at an altitude of some 60 km.

Denying media reports, an official at the ROK's presidential Blue House told reporters that the Blue House has not heard the United States seeing the DPRK projectiles as ballistic missiles.

Under the UN Security Council resolutions, the DPRK is banned from testing any ballistic missile. The past resolutions targeted mid- to long-range ballistic missiles.

ROK's President Moon Jae-in said Thursday night that the DPRK's recent projectile firings were partly aimed to call for the rapid resumption of the denuclearization dialogue.

The denuclearization negotiations between Pyongyang and Washington have been stalled since the second summit between top DPRK leader Kim Jong-un and US President Donald Trump ended with no agreement in February at the Vietnamese capital of Hanoi.