North Korea fires short-range rockets for 2nd day

Army soldiers pass by a barbed-wire fence during a military exercise in Paju near the border with North Korea, South Korea, Friday, Feb. 28, 2014. The short-range Scud missiles North Korea fired into the sea Thursday were a type it hasn’t launched since 2009, South Korea confirmed Friday, though analysts say the apparent protest over U.S.-South Korean military drills were likely not a prelude to higher tensions. AP

SEOUL, South Korea  — South Korea says North Korea has fired more short-range rockets into its eastern waters for a second straight day. That’s apparently a continuation of protests of ongoing U.S.-South Korean military drills.

Colonel Eom Hyo-sik of Seoul’s Joint Chiefs of Staff says the North launched 16 short-range rockets with a range of 60 kilometers (37 miles) early Sunday morning. The North had fired 30 rockets with a similar range early Saturday.

This is the fifth time the North has fired projectiles this month. One of the earlier launches happened minutes before a Chinese commercial plane reportedly carrying 202 people flew in the same area.

Pyongyang claims its rocket launches are part of routine drills and self-defensive in nature.

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