N Korea goes ballistic

SEOUL (AFP/Reuters) - North Korea test-fired seven missiles off its east coast Saturday, South Korean officials said, in what appeared to be a calculated message of defiance timed for the US Independence Day holiday.
The launches fuelled regional tensions after the communist state’s nuclear test in May, which coincided with the US Memorial Day holiday.
South Korea’s Yonhap news agency said the missiles test-fired were “Scud-type”, marking an escalation of recent sabre-rattling by the reclusive North, which has fired several non-ballistic, short-range missile since the May 25 nuclear test. North Korea is barred by UN resolutions from firing ballistic missile such as the Scud. A South Korean Defence Ministry official said more launches could come soon.
It was the biggest barrage of ballistic missiles the North has fired since it launched seven missiles in 2006 around the US July 4 Independence Day holiday, including its longest-range Taepodong-2.
The launches came as the US has cracked down on firms suspected of helping the North in its trade in arms and missiles, which were subject to UN sanctions imposed after the nuclear test and are a vital source of foreign currency for the cash-short state.
An anonymous South Korean official quoted by Yonhap said the launch may have been intended to send a message to Washington, the North’s main foe who for years has been trying to press Pyongyang to end its atomic ambitions and rein in missiles that threaten US allies South Korea and Japan.
“Today’s missiles seem to have political purposes in that they were fired a day ahead of the US Independence Day,” the agency quoted the official as saying. South Korea’s Defence Ministry confirmed the North fired seven missiles off its east coast from morning to late afternoon that had a range of between 400 and 500 km but declined to say what type they were.