SEOUL 31 Jul (ANA) - North Korea has fired two short-range ballistic missiles, South Korea's military said.

 

The launches come less than a week after Pyongyang tested weapons for the first time in more than two months.

 

South Korea's joint chiefs of staff said the launch came from Wonsan, a site on the North's eastern coast.

 

The missiles are thought to have flown about 250km (155 miles) at a maximum altitude of 30km (19 miles).

 

"The North's repeated missile launches are not helpful to an effort to ease tensions on the Korean Peninsula and we urge (North Korea) to stop this kind of behaviour," the South Korean statement said.

 

The launches are being seen by some as an attempt to apply pressure on America. North Korea wants the US to reduce sanctions, among other concessions, as part of the on-going diplomatic tussle between the two countries.

 

The US wants North Korea to make firm guarantees to denuclearise.

 

On Thursday, Pyongyang fired two short-range missiles into the sea, with North Korea's state media saying the tests were supervised by ruler Kim Jong Un.

 

They reported the tests were designed to deliver a "solemn warning" to South Korea following its purchase of high-tech US-made fighter jets and planned military drills.

 

North Korea says its neighbours actions amount to an invasion rehearsal.

 

UN Security Council resolutions ban the country from using ballistic technology in any weapons launches.

 

North Korea is already under 11 rounds of UN sanctions and so further action is unlikely to be taken.

 

Japan's defence minister Takeshi Iwaya said on Wednesday that the launched objects did not reach the Japanese exclusive economic zone.(ANA)

FA/ANA/31 July 2019---------