Tensions escalated on the Korean Peninsula after the DPRK launched a volley of short-range missiles and artillery shells in protest against the joint annual military exercises between South Korea and the United States.
The DPRK fired a total of 46 short-range rockets, possibly the FROG surface-to-surface missiles, over the weekend. On March 16, it launched 25 FROG missiles, which were introduced by the DPRK from the former Soviet Union in the 1960s.
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.