North Korea fires four short-range missiles into the sea

North Korea has fired four short-range missiles towards the sea off the country’s east coast on Thursday, according to a South Korean Defense Ministry official.

The communist country launched the missiles at 5:42 p.m. local time from a mountain site just north of the border with South Korea, the official added.

North Korea has fired short-range missiles into the sea as part of military exercises in the past, Reuters reported.

Four short-range missiles have been fired towards the sea off North Korea’s east coast on Thursday, according to a South Korean Defense Ministry official.

The communist country launched the missiles at 5:42 p.m. local time from a mountain site just north of the border with South Korea, the official added.

North Korea has fired short-range missiles into the sea as part of military exercises in the past, Reuters reported.

The move is widely seen as a response to South Korea’s military exercises with the US.

Experts say that the test-firing of the four missiles – with an estimated range of about 125 miles – is unlikely to trigger a significant rise in military tensions.

They are mainly about North Korea expressing its displeasure over the US-South Korea military drills – which Pyongyang has condemned as provocative – and a recent UN rights report which described human rights abuses in the North Korea as possible crimes against humanity.