N. Korean short-range missiles aimed at provoking S. Korea: spokesman

By Sam Kim
SEOUL, July 3 (Yonhap) -- The set of four short-range missiles North Korea
test-fired off its east coast earlier this week appear to be aimed at provoking
South Korea, an official here said Friday.

"We believe the firing was conducted with regard to the relations" between the
two Koreas, South Korean defense spokesman Won Tae-jae said. "Unless it is a
mid-range missile or a longer-range one, we believe it is aimed at South Korea."
Speculation that North Korea is setting the mood to test-launch a mid- or
long-range missile around July 4 -- Independence Day in the U.S. -- is not being
taken seriously among military officials in Seoul, Won said.
"This is only speculation. We don't see it as carrying military significance," he
said.
On July 5 in 2006, North Korea fired a long-range ballistic missile that fizzled
soon after takeoff. Analysts said the launch of the missile, theoretically
capable of hitting Alaska, was aimed at grabbing the attention of the U.S.
administration.
North Korea and the U.S. are members of six-nation talks aimed at denuclearizing
North Korea through aid and diplomatic benefits. Pyongyang, which conducted its
second nuclear test on May 25 this year, has scrapped the negotiations.
North Korea is under a wide-ranging arms embargo imposed by a U.N. Security
Council resolution that was passed last month to punish the communist state for
its latest nuclear test.
The North launched four short-range anti-ship missiles into the East Sea on
Thursday, defying the resolution, which bans the testing of such weapons.
The firing came hours after the talks between the two Koreas over the fate of a
joint industrial park in a North Korean border city came to an end without a
breakthrough.
"Short-range missiles are the most useful (weapons) in the event of a conflict
between the Koreas," Won said.
North Korea conducted its first nuclear test in October 2006.
samkim@yna.co.kr
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