North Korea launches ‘multiple missile launcher’

“This morning there was a firing in North Korea of ​​what were supposed to be multiple rocket launcher rounds, and our military was monitoring the situation and maintaining a standby mode,” the South Korean military’s joint command said in a statement.

Yonhap news agency reported that the North Korean army fired four showers at about 7:20 a.m. (22:20 GMT on Saturday) for about an hour, toward the west coast from an unspecified location in the South Pyongan Province.

South Korea’s National Security Council held an urgent meeting at the deputy ministerial level over the launch, according to “Reuters”.

South Korea last year endorsed plans to seek a $2.6 billion artillery-interceptor system similar to Israel’s Iron Dome system, designed to protect it from North Korea’s arsenal of artillery and long-range missiles.

North Korea has offered several new types of multiple rocket launcher systems in recent years, though these missiles are less noticeable than ICBMs, adding them to an already massive arsenal of artillery and missiles capable of hitting potential targets in the south.