NORTH Korea fired three short range ballistic missiles toward its eastern waters in its latest weapons display on Saturday, a day after rival South Korea launched a solid-fuelled rocket as part of its efforts to build a space-based surveillance capabilitytobettermonitorthe North. Tensions between the rival Koreas rose earlier this week when South Korea accused North Korea of flying five drones across the rivals’ tense border for the first time in five years and responded by sending its own drones toward the North. South Korea’s JointChiefs of Staff said in a statement it detected the three launches from an inland area south of Pyongyang,theNorth’scapital, on Saturday morning.

 

It said the three missiles travelled about 350 kilometers (220 miles) before landing in the waters between the Korean Peninsula and Japan.The estimated range suggests themissiles testedtargetSouthKorea. TheJointChiefsofStaffcalled the launches “a grave provocation” thatundermines international peace. It said South Korea closely monitors North Koreanmoves in coordination with the United States and maintainsa readiness to“overwhelmingly” deter any provocation by North Korea.