US News

North Korea test fires two short-range missiles off eastern coast

PYONGYANG, ,North Korea — North Korea test fired two short-range ballistic missiles off the country’s eastern coast just before midnight Sunday, the same day leader Kim Jong Il’s death was announced, a senior US defense official told FOX News Channel.

The unnamed official said both landed in the sea and posed no threat to anyone.

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Initial reports by South Korea’s Yonhap news agency said one missile had been fired.

The missile launch was not believed to be linked to the dictator’s death, echoing comments made earlier by a South Korean official.

“This test appears to have been part of planned exercises and may have no correlation to the death of Kim Jong Il,” a US official told FOX News Channel.

It was not clear if both missiles were the same type. The North Koreans have been testing a new variant of missile called a KN-06, with a range of about 74.5 miles (120km), FOX said. The last time it was tested was in early June.

The South Korean official was quoted by Yonhap as saying, “This is something that the military has continued to follow … we believe it is not related to the death of Chairman Kim Jong Il.”

Kim, thought to be 69, died of a heart attack at 8:30am local time Saturday, a weeping TV announcer dressed all in black told the nation.

He died “from a great mental and physical strain … on [a] train during a field guidance tour,” Yonhap reported, citing the North Korean Central News Agency.

The isolated leader’s death has renewed fears that North Korea and its neighboring countries will face a dangerous period of instability under the rule of Kim’s successor, his youngest son, Kim Jong Eun.

Earlier, an unnamed US official told FOX News Kim’s death “brings extraordinary change and uncertainty to a country that has seen little change in decades.”

After the dictator’s death was announced, US President Barack Obama spoke by telephone to South Korean president Lee Myung-bak and reaffirmed his commitment to close national security coordination, the White House said in a statement.

“The president reaffirmed the United States’ strong commitment to the stability of the Korean peninsula and the security of our close ally, the Republic of Korea,” it said, in reference to South Korea. “The two leaders agreed to stay in close touch as the situation develops and agreed they would direct their national security teams to continue close coordination.”

A US official said, “South Korea’s concern is warranted, frankly, because an insecure North Korea could well be an even more dangerous North Korea.”

South Korea’s Defense Acquisition Program Administration said Monday the South had also completed the deployment of its indigenous guided missile, Yonhap reported.

Cross-border tensions have been high since Seoul accused Pyongyang of torpedoing a warship off the east coast of the peninsula with the loss of 46 lives in March 2010. The North denied the charge but went on to shell the Yeonpyeong border island, briefly sparking fears of war.

Since then, Seoul has staged a series of military exercises either alone or jointly with its ally the US in a show of force, while Pyongyang routinely test fires short-range missiles either as part of a training exercise or as a reaction to political developments.