North Korea fires 2 missiles, artillery after making threats

By HYUNG-JIN KIM and KIM TONG-HYUNG
Associated Press

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea has fired two short-range ballistic missiles and artillery shells toward its eastern waters. The firings Monday escalate animosities over U.S.-South Korean military drills that North Korea views as an invasion rehearsal and that the allies say are defensive. The weapons firings follow an intercontinental ballistic missile launch Saturday and North Korea’s threats to take an unprecedented strong response to the drills. A new testing spree also allows North Korea to expand its arsenals amid stalled talks with its rivals and eventually try to wrest bigger concessions. South Korea said the two missiles were launched from a western coastal town, and Japan said the missiles fell into the waters between the Korean Peninsula and Japan.