North Korea fired a short-range multiple rocket launcher into the Yellow Sea on Sunday, the South Korean military said, just days after an apparent failed missile test.
South Korea's National Security Council held an emergency vice-ministerial meeting on the four MRLS launches, which the Yonhap news agency reported fell into the western waters over a span of about an hour from 7:20 a.m. from an unspecified location in the North's South Pyongan province.
The firings come days after nuclear-armed North Korea fired off what Japanese officials believe was a ballistic missile that appeared to fail almost immediately after launch. That apparent test came after warnings from the U.S. and its allies of an imminent test of long-range missile technology.
That missile appeared to have exploded in midair at an altitude below 20 kilometers (12 miles), South Korean officials said. Seoul-based specialist website NK News said the failed launch had rained debris on or near Pyongyang.
Unlike ballistic missile technology, multiple rocket launchers are not banned under United Nations Security Council resolutions.
Pyongyang routinely threatens to turn Seoul, home to nearly 10 million people, into a "sea of fire" with its powerful artillery systems
North Korea’s MRLS weapons are seen as a key part of its deterrence posture, since they put Seoul and other parts of South Korea at risk. The North has about 5,500 multiple rocket launchers, which prompted South Korea last year to greenlight plans to purchase a multi-billion dollar artillery interception system akin to Israel’s “Iron Dome."