SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea fired three ballistic missiles on Tuesday, six days after South Korea revealed the location in the South where the United States planned to deploy an advanced missile defense system.
The three projectiles took off from Hwangju, south of Pyongyang, the North Korean capital, between 5:45 a.m. and 6:40 a.m. on Tuesday and flew between 310 and 370 miles before falling into the sea off the eastern coast of the North, the South Korean military said in a statement.
South Korean officials said the projectiles were believed to be Scud-type short-range ballistic missiles. North Korea has been banned from developing ballistic missiles under United Nations Security Council resolutions.
The ranges of the missiles launched on Tuesday were enough to cover most of South Korea, including Seongju, a town where the U.S. and South Korea have agreed to deploy the so-called Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense, or THAAD, missile system.
The two governments said the system was necessary to help protect South Korea and U.S. forces based there from North Korea's ballistic missile threats. But since Seongju was selected as a new THAAD base location, North Korea has threatened to take a "physical counteraction."