S. Korea confirms missile launch by DPRK

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Tuesday, October 21, 2003

S. Korea confirms missile launch by DPRK

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South Korea confirmed a Japanese media report Monday that the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) had test-fired a ground-to-ship missile earlier in the day, but downplayed it as part of routine training.

Both the Defense Ministry and Joint Chiefs of Staff (JSC) confirmed that the DPRK test-fired an unidentified type of surface-to-ship missile from its northeast coast earlier in the day, South Korea's Yonhap News Agency reported.

"It appears the missile was fired as part of the Pyongyang's annual military training exercise," an official of the JSC was quoted as saying. "There were two or three similar missile exercises this year."

The Defense Ministry and the JSC believed that the DPRK test-fired the missile to check the performance of an improved type of such missile, said Yonhap.

But details of the missile test-firing were not available. And intelligence departments of South Korea and the United States are gathering relevant information, the Defense Ministry said.

Japan's NHK television reported earlier that the DPRK launched a short-range missile from its east coast toward the sea on Monday afternoon and that the weapon appeared to be a Silkworm missile.

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