North Korea pops off another projectile into the Pacific
| Seoul, South Korea
North聽Korea聽fired a projectile into waters off its eastern coast Sunday, a day after launching three short-range missiles in the same area, officials said.
North聽Korea聽routinely test-launches short-range missiles. But the latest launches came during a period of tentative diplomacy aimed at easing recent tension, including near-daily threats by聽North聽Korea聽to attack South聽Korea聽and the US earlier this year.聽North聽Korea聽protested annual joint military drills by Seoul and Washington and UN sanctions imposed over its February nuclear test.
The fourth launch occurred Sunday afternoon, according to officials at Seoul's Defense Ministry and Joint Chiefs of Staff. The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity citing department rules, refused to say whether it was a missile or artillery round.
On Saturday,聽North聽Korea聽fired two short-range missiles in the morning and another in the afternoon. The US responded by saying threats or provocations would only further deepen聽North聽Korea's聽international isolation, while South聽Korea聽called the launches a provocation and urged the聽North聽to take responsible actions.
The聽North聽has a variety of missiles but Seoul and Washington don't believe the country has mastered the technology needed to manufacture nuclear warheads that are small and light enough to be placed on a missile capable of reaching the US.
US officials said the聽North聽has recently withdrawn two mid-range "Musudan" missiles believed to be capable of reaching Guam after moving them to its east coast during the recent tensions.
The Korean Peninsula officially remains in a state of war because the 1950-53 Korean War ended with an armistice, not a peace treaty. South聽Korea's聽Defense Ministry said Sunday it has deployed dozens of Israeli-made precision guided missiles on front-line islands near the disputed western sea boundary as part of an arms buildup begun after a聽North聽Korean artillery strike on one of the islands in 2010 killed four South Koreans.
* Associated Press writer Sam Kim contributed to this report.
