N. Korea test launched short-range missile near Yellow Sea last week

(ATTN: UPDATES throughout with military official's confirmation, details; TRIMS)
SEOUL (Yonhap) - North Korea test-fired a short-range missile off its western coast last week, a military official confirmed Wednesday, but said the launch appeared to be part of routine tests to modify its missile arsenal.
The launch coincided with a series of recent fiery threats by the North against South Korea. North Korea last week threatened to cut off a military hotline with South Korea and to stop engaging with the South, in an apparent change of its gesture for dialogue.
"We have observed that North Korea fired a short-range missile into waters off its west coast in the middle of last week," said an official at the South's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS).
"But the test-firing is not related to the North's recent threats and is seen as aimed at improving the missile," the JCS official said on the condition of anonymity.
Since last year, North Korea has fired short-range missiles intended to test modifications, the military official said.
Earlier in the day, an intelligence source in Seoul said North Korea fired a KN-06 short-range missile off its west coast last week.
North Korea regularly test-fires missiles and has apparently been trying to increase the range of the KN-06 missile since last year in a bid to put the missile into service, according to the source.
Tensions on the Korean Peninsula remain high following the North's two deadly attacks on the South last year.
Last Friday, North Korea's military threatened to take "retaliatory military actions" amid South Korean media reports that some of the South's military units have been using photos of North Korean leader Kim Jong-il as targets for shooting practice.
The two Koreas are still technically at war because their 1950-53 Korean War ended with an armistice, not a peace treaty.