North Korea 'fires three ballistic missiles'

North Korea on Monday night fired three ballistic missiles toward the Sea of Japan, the South Korean military says.

The missiles, believed to be Scud-types, were launched from the western city of Hwangju, BBC quoted the Joint Chiefs of Staff as saying in a statement.

They flew some 500 km and 600 km, with a range enough to reach all of South Korea.

It comes after the US and the South said they would deploy an anti-missile system to counter the threats.

Tensions have soared since Pyongyang carried out its fourth nuclear test in January, followed by a series of missile launches, BBC added.

The latest launches happened between 05:45 local time (20:45 GMT on Monday) to 06:40, the military statement added.

--IANS

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