North Korea Fires Missiles for Third Consecutive Day

North Korea fired short-range missiles into the sea off its east coast for a third straight day on Monday.

Despite warnings of rising tensions from the United States and South Korea, the North has launched a total of six projectiles since Saturday in what are believed to have been tests from multiple launchers.

The government in the south has yet to make an official announcement, but a Defense Ministry spokesman said: "We remain vigilant for the possibility that the North may launch more."

After months of aggressive rhetoric, the Korean Peninsula had settled into relative quiet in the last couple of weeks, until Saturday when the North suddenly launched three missiles.

The North defended the tests on Monday, saying they were merely part of a regular military drill.

In a statement carried by Pyongyang’s official Korean Central News Agency, the North’s Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland said it was "brigandish sophism" for Washington and Seoul to accuse the North of raising tensions when they themselves recently staged far bigger military exercises involving a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier.

It said the South's reaction to them was "another unpardonable challenge."

"Their description of the drills as a factor of escalating the tension on the peninsula and in the region reminds one of a thief crying, 'Stop the thief!' " the statement said.

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