SKorea: NKorea Fired 3 Missiles        05/18 14:06

   North Korea fired three short-range guided missiles into its eastern waters 
on Saturday, a South Korean official said. It routinely tests such missiles, 
but the latest launches came during a period of tentative diplomacy aimed at 
easing tensions.

   SEOUL, South Korea (AP) -- North Korea fired three short-range guided 
missiles into its eastern waters on Saturday, a South Korean official said. It 
routinely tests such missiles, but the latest launches came during a period of 
tentative diplomacy aimed at easing tensions.

   The North fired two missiles Saturday morning and another in the afternoon, 
South Korean Defense Ministry spokesman Kim Min-seok said by phone. He said the 
North's intent was unclear. His ministry said it is watching North Korea 
carefully in case it conducts a provocation against South Korea.

   In March, North Korea launched what appeared to be two KN-02 missiles off 
its east coast. Experts believe the country is trying to improve the range and 
accuracy of its arsenal.

   North Korea recently withdrew two mid-range "Musudan" missiles believed to 
be capable of reaching Guam after moving them to its east coast earlier this 
year, U.S. officials said. The North is banned from testing ballistic missiles 
under U.N. Security Council resolutions.

   Earlier this year, North Korea threatened nuclear strikes on Seoul and 
Washington because of annual U.S.-South Korean military drills and U.N. 
sanctions imposed over its third nuclear test in February. The drills ended 
late last month. This past month, the U.S. and South Korea ended another round 
of naval drills involving a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier off the east 
coast. North Korea calls such drills preparation to invade the North.

   Analysts say the recent North Korean threats were partly an attempt to push 
Washington to agree to disarmament-for-aid talks.

   In response to Saturday's missile test, the U.S. said threats or 
provocations will only further isolate North Korea from the rest of the world 
and undermine international efforts to bring peace and stability to Northeast 
Asia.

   "We continue to urge the North Korean leadership to heed President Obama's 
call to choose the path of peace and come into compliance with its 
international obligations," said National Security Council spokeswoman Caitlin 
Hayden.

   This past week, Glyn Davies, the top U.S. envoy on North Korea, ended trips 
to South Korea, China and Japan. On Friday, an adviser to Japanese Prime 
Minister Shinzo Abe returned from North Korea but didn't immediately give 
details of his talks with officials there.

   On Monday, North Korean state media showed that the country's hard-line 
defense minister had been replaced by a little-known army general. Outside 
analysts said it was part of leader Kim Jong Un's efforts to tighten his grip 
on the powerful military after his father Kim Jong Il died in December 2011.

   The United States and Japan are participants in six-nation nuclear 
disarmament talks along with North and South Korea, Russia and China. North 
Korea walked out of the talks in 2009 after the United Nations condemned it for 
a long-range rocket launch.

   North Korea possesses an array of missiles. U.S. and South Korean officials 
do not believe the North's claim that it has developed nuclear warheads small 
enough to place on a missile. Last week in Washington, South Korean President 
Park Geun-hye and President Barack Obama warned North Korea against further 
nuclear provocations.

   Tension between the two Koreas remains high after both sides pulled out 
their workers from a jointly run factory complex earlier this year. The 
countries remain technically at war after the 1950-53 Korean War ended in a 
truce instead of a peace treaty.


(KA)