North Korea fired what appeared to be two ballistic short-range missiles into the East Sea on Saturday morning, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said, adding that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un may have overseen the third weapons test this month after previous rounds on March 2 and 9.

The missiles flew approximately 410 kilometers and reached a peak altitude of 50 kilometers from Sonchon, along the North’s western coast. The North is suspected of firing variants of the US surface-to-surface missile ATACMS, which it test-fired twice in August, the JCS said.

Experts said Pyongyang wanted to demonstrate improving performance of those missiles. The North fired them five minutes apart this time, much shorter than the average 15-minute interval seen the previous year. The missiles showed a longer range, flying from the western coast, as opposed to the eastern coast.

“This is classic North Korea testing missiles. Only this time, it was testing them to check for a longer trajectory,” said Shin Jong-woo, a senior researcher at the Korea Defense and Security Forum.

Some experts said Saturday’s missiles could be variants of Russian short-range missile Iskander. If that were the case, the North was working to optimize the military’s readiness to operate the missiles, which it had put into combat operation.

“North Korea could be looking to prepare the units responsible for those missiles,” said Kim Dong-yub, an analyst from Seoul’s Institute for Far Eastern Studies.

Seoul’s Defense Ministry reiterated its earlier assessments that the latest launches could be part of Pyongyang’s wintertime military drills and a protest against UN sanctions over its nuclear weapons program. The firings aimed to rally North Koreans, potentially unsettled by the coronavirus, against the South, it added.

By Choi Si-young (siyoungchoi@heraldcorp.com)