North Korea fires 3 new missiles

The crisis in the Korean Peninsula is far from being resolved as North Korea on Friday fired “several projectiles” into sea off its eastern coast.

According to the South Korean military, the missiles were launched from a site in the North Korean province of Gangwon and flew for about 250km (150 miles).

Since firing an intercontinental ballistic weapon last month, Pyongyang has threatened to aim missiles at the U.S. Pacific territory of Guam.

But this latest test did not threaten the U.S. or Guam, the U.S. military said.

The projectiles were first launched at 06:49 on Saturday (21:49 GMT Friday), South Korea’s Defence Ministry said.

The U.S. military said three missiles were fired.

“The first and third missiles failed in flight. The second missile launch appears to have blown up almost immediately,” said Commander Dave Benham of the U.S. Pacific Command.

The launches were spread over a period of 30 minutes, he added.

“The military is keeping a tight surveillance over the North to cope with further provocations,” the South Korean defence ministry said.

Thousands of U.S. and South Korean troops are currently taking part in joint military drills, which are mainly largely computer-simulated exercises.