THE Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) fired two short-range ballistic missiles early yesterday, just days after it launched two other missiles intended to pressure South Korea and the United States to stop upcoming military drills.

The latest launches were from the Hodo peninsula on the DPRK’s east coast, the same area from where last week’s were conducted, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said in a statement. It said it was monitoring in case of additional launches.

The JCS in Seoul said later that the DPRK had fired ballistic missiles that flew about 155 miles (250 km). South Korean news agency Yonhap said they appeared to be a different type to previous launches.

Colonel Lee Peters, a spokesman for U.S. military forces in South Korea, said: “We are aware of reports of a missile launch from North Korea and we will continue to monitor the situation.”

He did not comment when asked whether the joint South Korea-U.S. drills, scheduled to begin next month, would continue.

On July 25, the DPRK tested two new missiles, describing the launch as a “solemn warning” against what it described as “South Korean warmongers.”

Harry Kazianis, of Washington’s Center for the National Interest think tank, said the latest launches were a clear attempt by the DPRK to put pressure on Washington.

“For now, it seems any working-level talks between America and the DPRK are on hold until the fall, as the DPRK Government won’t immediately spring back to diplomacy after this round of tests,” he said.

That firing of the two projectiles was the first missile test since Kim Jong Un, the DPRK leader, met U.S. President Donald Trump on June 30, and agreed to revive denuclearization talks.

The short-range missiles were fired into the Sea of Japan, also known as the East Sea, from Wonsan on the DPRK’s east coast.

(SD-Agencies)