South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) announced Saturday morning that two unidentified projectiles had been detected flying from the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) into the Sea of Japan.
According to Yonhap News Agency reports citing the JCS, the two projectiles were fired from the coastal city of Hamhung, which is roughly 30 miles north of where several previous missile tests have been fired.
Hamhung is home to a solid-fuel rocket engine production site. Solid fuel tends to be favored for rocketry weapons since it's always ready to fire and can be stored for long periods without fuel degradation, as compared to liquid rocket fuel.
The Republic of Korea Armed Forces are maintaining a readiness posture as military intelligence tracks the situation.
"We are aware of reports of a missile launch from North Korea, and we continue to monitor the situation," a senior US official told Reuters. "We are consulting closely with our Japanese and South Korean allies." They noted that at least one of the projectiles appeared to be similar to previous short-range missiles fired by the DPRK.
Saturday's test is only the latest in a series of short-range ballistic missile and guided rocket tests carried out by the socialist country in the last few weeks. Military observers have concluded the new weapons system being tested by Pyongyang is the KN-23, a mobile rocket platform unveiled last year. Pyongyang has described the weapon as a "newly-developed large-caliber multiple launch guided rocket system."
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