North Korea launches multiple short-range ballistic missiles, South Korean military steps up monitoring

(Central News Agency, Seoul, comprehensive foreign news report on the 20th) South Korea’s military said that North Korea launched multiple short-range ballistic missiles into the sea east of the Korean Peninsula today. Yonhap News Agency reported that South Korea's Contract General Staff Headquarters stated that the military detected North Korea's launch at around 5 p.m. local time. The South Korean military also stated that the range of these missiles is about 300 kilometers. The Contracting Staff Headquarters stated that the military has stepped up monitoring and vigilance for possible more missile launches, while closely sharing relevant information with the United States and Japan to maintain full combat readiness. An official from South Korea's Contract Staff Headquarters told AFP that North Korea launched about 10 short-range ballistic missiles from the Pyongyang area. North Korea's most recent projectile was on August 12, when it fired a short-range ballistic missile toward the Sea of ​​Japan. At this time, South Korea and the United States are holding joint military exercises. U.S. President Donald Trump has recently ordered a reduction in the exercises, so the time and scale of the joint military exercises have been reduced. Japan's Defense Ministry said North Korea launched a suspected ballistic missile object, noting that the object fell outside Japan's exclusive economic zone (EEZ). "Nihon Keizai Shimbun" reported that North Korea had previously expressed resistance to the joint military exercises carried out by the US and South Korean militaries in South Korea since the 17th. Senior Self-Defense Force officials speculated: "This should be North Korea's response to the U.S.-South Korea drills and Trump's mention of talks between U.S. and North Korean leaders."