N.Korea fires multiple short-range ballistic missiles: JCS

Seoul, Sep 18 (IANS) North Korea fired multiple short-range ballistic missiles in a northeastern direction on Wednesday, South Korea's military said, further ratcheting up tensions already heightened by its rare disclosure of a uranium enrichment facility last week.

The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said it detected the launches at about 6:50 a.m. from the North's Kaechon area in South Phyongan province, north of Pyongyang. It did not provide further details, including the number of missiles fired, Yonhap news agency reported.

"While strengthening our monitoring and vigilance against additional launches, our military will share North Korean ballistic missile information with the US and Japanese sides and maintain a full readiness posture," the JCS said in a text message sent to reporters.

North Korea disclosed its uranium-based nuclear facility on Friday, a day after its test-firing of a new 600 mm multiple rocket launcher. The latest bouts of its saber-rattling have added to cross-border tensions caused by the North Korea's launches of trash-filled balloons to South Korea.

The series of Pyongyang's provocative acts came amid lingering concerns that the recalcitrant regime could engage in major provocations to bolster its leverage ahead of the November 5 presidential election in the US.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un on September 13 called for increasing the number of centrifuges for uranium enrichment in order to increase its nuclear weapons for self-defence, the state media said.

Kim made the call during a visit to the Nuclear Weapons Institute and the "production base of weapon-grade nuclear materials", according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). The dispatch did not release the location of the facility or date of the visit.

It marks the first time North Korea has publicly revealed details of its uranium enrichment facility.

Kim also "stressed the need to further augment the number of centrifuges in order to exponentially increase the nuclear weapons for self-defence true to the Party's line of building up nuclear-armed forces," the KCNA said.

A uranium enrichment facility is used to produce highly enriched uranium by placing uranium in centrifuges and spinning it at high speeds. Highly enriched uranium is essential for the manufacture of nuclear warheads.

South Korean and US intelligence agencies believe North Korea operates uranium enrichment facilities at the Kangson nuclear complex near Pyongyang and at the Yongbyon nuclear site.

In 2010, North Korea invited Siegfried Hecker, a renowned American nuclear scientist, to inspect its uranium enrichment facility at Yongbyon.

Additionally, Kim called for improving the separation capacity of the centrifuges and accelerating the development of a new type of centrifuge to "further solidify the foundation for producing weapons-grade nuclear materials."

The sudden public disclosure of the uranium enrichment facility is seen as a move to flaunt North Korea's nuclear capabilities ahead of the US presidential election in November.

Earlier this month, during a key deterrence dialogue between South Korea and the US, the allies warned of the possibility that North Korea could conduct significant provocations, such as a nuclear test or an intercontinental ballistic missile launch, close to the election.

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